Social Change and the Experience of Unemployment

The single most important change in the British labour market over the last two decacdes has been the re-emergence of mass unemployment. This study focuses on six areas: Aberdeen, Kirkcaldy, Rochdale, Coventry, Northampton, and Swindon, and investigates the effect of being unemployed on individuals' attitudes to work, their social relationships, and their psychological health. It covers the ground, using large-scale surveys that allow direct comparison with people in employment and taking into account a wide range of variables.

`The Social Change and Economic Life Initiative was the most comprehensive investigation of the changing character of British society in the 1980s. The programme made important theoretical and methodological innovations in research on the interrelations of work, employment and the household. The SCELI findings are essential reading for all students of contemporary Britain. Their publication has been eagerly awaited and will be widely welcomed.' Professor Richard Brown, University of Durham, `essential reading for all those concerned about the experience of unemployment in contemporary Britain' Work, Employment and Society, `The book is tightly organised, and the contributions of high quality ... the volume provides us with a systematic testing of previously tentative findings about the nature and experience of unemployment.' Social Policy, `the papers shed considerable light on the effects of unemployment, providing much more firmly based evidence and sophisticated analysis than available hitherto in the sociological literature' Work, Employment and Society', `This is an important publication which should be read by all those involved in economic development, those interested in economic restructuring and by researchers anticipating research into unemployment.' Local Government Studies

Duncan Gallie is a winner of the American Sociology Association's Sorokin Prize. He has taught at Essex and Warwick Universities and lives in Leamington Spa.Catherine Marsh taught at Cambridge University from 1981-1990 and was a Fellow of Newnham College. She was a consultant on sociological statistics to a number of institutions, including the Equal Opportunities Commission, BBC (`Brass Tacks'), the Open University, the Economic and Social Research Council, Cambridge City Council, the Brewers' Society, the News on Sunday, and the Manchester Centre for Exploitation of Science and Technology. She was an examiner for the Universities ofOxford, Cambridge, Manchester, and London, and taught at summer-schools at the universities of Manchester and Kent, and at the Central European University in Prague. She was the author of Hours of Work of Women and Men in Britain (HMSO, 1991) which attracted attention from all the national newspapers and othermedia. She died in 1993.Carolyn Vogler has held research posts at Nuffield College, Oxford and the University of Essex. She lives in New Barnet, Hartfordshire.