ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by examining changes in employment opportunities from the early 1990s to the present day, looking at trends and highlighting the extent that different groups were affected by these changes. This is followed by a discussion of changing patterns of unemployment in the 1990s recession and the Great Recession and in their aftermath. Next, the chapter also outlines the new measures introduced to serve those experiencing unemployment and discuss the changing principles that underpin policy development. While labour market statistics provide a clear overview of trends and show the extent to which young people suffer through changing opportunity structures and economic upheavals, less visible are shifting interpretations of the causes and consequences of youth unemployment. In particular, throughout the 1990s the Thatcher legacy continued to colour both attitudes and policies towards the unemployed.
