Employment and Citizenship in Britain and France

This title was first published in 2000: One of the most significant features to emerge in the world of work during the past decade has been the change from long-term employment, often with one employer, to a pattern of short-term, flexible working arrangements involving short-term contracts, frequent spells of unemployment, rapid movement into and out of employment and greater labour mobility. This text examines the social and economic consequences of this employment flexibility. The book derives from the 2nd Anglo-French Conference on the Transferability of Social Policy held in 1998, which focused on the problems created by employment flexibility and the appropriate policy responses, it also presents commentaries on the consequences of flexibility in Britain and France. It brings together British and French perspectives on such policy questions as the impact on families and their ability to plan in an atmosphere of economic insecurity, the manner in which French and British welfare systems are adapting, the impact on citizens' rights, the need, in both countries, to make pension arrangements more adaptable, and the potential for a "European citizenship" approach to the problem.