STALYBRIDGE and Hyde MP James Purnell is calling for a job guarantee for anyone who has been out of work for more than 12 months.

The government already offers a job guarantee to anyone aged between 18 and 24, who has been claiming Job Seekers Allowance for more than six months.

And now James Purnell has joined a coalition of labour-market experts calling for a similar guarantee to be offered to anyone who has been out of work for 12 months or longer.

In making the call, members of the coalition – which includes representatives from the TUC, Demos’ Open Left, the Resolution Foundation and the Work Foundation – have highlighted official figures detailing the number of people out of work for at least 12 months.

The statistics show that after the end of the last recession, in 1991, unemployment continued to rise for two years. And it took seven years for levels of unemployment to return to pre-recession levels.

In a letter to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper, the coalition call for a universal jobs guarantee in order to avoid the mistakes of the previous two recessions.

The letter states: "Long-term unemployment was a problem long after the recessions of the 80s and 90s had ended; while some parts of the country were at full employment, the areas where long-term unemployment had taken hold continued to be depressed.

"The negative impacts of long-term worklessness for individuals are well documented, and include the increased likelihood of mental health problems, relationship breakdown, alcohol problems, debt and homelessness.

"Communities also suffer with high poverty levels, reduced local demand and consequent poor levels of job creation.

"A job guarantee would be a promise to all unemployed people – and especially to those in the areas devastated by previous recessions – that this experience will not be repeated."

Commenting on the call for a universal jobs guarantee, former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions James Purnell MP – who spearheaded the current job guarantee for 18-24 year olds - said: "Unemployment can have a devastating impact not only on individuals but on entire communities.

"In the previous Tory recessions of the 1980s and 1990s whole generations were left without hope and were written off.

"We cannot afford to lose a generation to long-term unemployment. And that’s why a universal jobs guarantee would be beneficial, ensuring that the talents of a generation are not wasted."

Meanwhile TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber has said: "While recent economic indicators offer reasons for cautious cheer, unemployment remains a huge concern. There must not be a repeat of the last two recessions, when millions of people were stuck in semi-permanent unemployment long after the economy had recovered.

"Long periods out of work can have a devastating impact on people’s health and mass unemployment can crush communities. A Universal Job Guarantee would help prevent this.

"A job paying decent wages for at least six months provides the kind of experience employers want and gives an unemployed person the best possible chance of getting back to work."

Published January 19, 2009