Our Media Watch reports that the communiqué issued at the end of the G8 conference hardly caused a ripple in the world's press. We include a special feature on the G8 jobs conference in this issue of The Jobs Letter. All eyes, however, will be on the G8 world leaders summit in Birmingham in May. It is here that the details of the individual "job action plans" that each country is drawing up will be presented.

Semantics perhaps . but it is interesting to note the subtle changes in language that the G8 is now using around these jobs conferences. Last June, the British PM Tony Blair and US President Clinton agreed that the G8 would hold a Conference in Britain on "Employment, Jobs and Exclusion". The conference ended up being called "Growth, Employability and Inclusion".

Source _ No10 Press Office statement, available on internet at http://britain-info.org; The Telegraph 23 February 1998 "G7 fury as Japan fails to deliver" by Anne Segall; Financial Times 23 February 1998 "G*: Ministers commit to fight unemployment" by Robert Taylor

" to provide an integrated service to create opportunities for people and communities to achieve and maintain self sufficiency through work, training, income support and community development."

Integration Transition Team manager Allan Barber says that this mission statement will form the basis upon which to build the corporate identity which is in the process of being tendered out.

The Integration Transition Team has seven people, and is based in Wellington. It reports to a steering group from the State Services Commission, headed by Michael Wintringham, and includes Labour Department head John Chetwin and Social Welfare's Margaret Bazley.

Barber is confident that the transition process will be a stable one, and says that up until 30 September nothing will change dramatically. Barber: "After that it will be a gradual process. The doors will open for business in October, and there will be a new name and brand, but to suddenly expect staff to have acquired a whole range of new skills and attributes by then is not realistic"

Barber sees a major challenge for the new agency in the process of "developing a new culture". He says Income Support, the Employment Service and CEG share a highly professional attitude to the way they operate and the nature of the work they do, but "their differences are nevertheless marked. They are very different in the way they deliver their service, and obviously each has its own culture."

Barbers aim is to grow an agency that will take the best out of its various parts: "The only way to achieve that is to involve people from the existing organisations in the design of the strategy and the vision and the future deliverables of the new organisation"

Source _ Transition Times from the Department of Labour Issue 10 March 1998

Many staff expressed reservations about the work-for-the-dole policies, and concerns were also expressed about staff redundancies and the short-term impact on clients during the transition period. Staff said they were hungry for more substantive information, especially about selection for the new agency and its name. And there was cynicism about the ability of the new department to meet its expected start-up date. There were doubts expressed about the ability to mix the different organisational cultures into the new agency, with some Auckland NZES staff especially concerned about being "engulfed" by Income Support.

Source _ Transition Times from the Department of Labour Issue 11 March 1998

Spokesperson Marion Wood says that the agenda for the code was spelt out in last year's Budget. Wood: "It is about targeting beneficiaries and cutting benefits. Our fear is that government will blame individuals _ and beneficiaries in particular _ for their shortcomings, because its economic and social policies have failed to ensure general well-being"

Source _ Dialogue No.98, March 1998

Kerr: "They are in a different category. It is reasonable to expect people being helped by other members of the community to become self-sufficient as quickly as possible and to not allow their kids to get into an ongoing cycle of dependency"

Kerr says he is uneasy about the government laying down guidance on social and family issues: "I would much rather that it was coming from welfare and church groups. My sad reflection is if we were to rely on them to perform that role, we would be waiting a long time"

Source _ Dialogue No.98, March 1998

Source _ The Daily News 19 March 1998 "Labour issues resource pack" by NZPA

Yes, all responses will be read but this to some extent depends on what you mean by "read". The general manager of the Social Policy Agency John Angus says his staff will first analyse a sample of responses to find the most frequently expressed opinions. The rest of the responses will then be scanned for key phrases which matched the words identified in the sample. Finally, the "code" phrases will be counted and the results used in a report to the government by the end of July.

Source _ New Zealand Herald 14 March 1998 "Code comments may get only quick look" by Andrew Laxon.

Source _ New Zealand Herald 16 March 1998 "Northland jobless find fruit far afield" by Darrel Mager

The Third Age Challenge is a leading national body in the UK promoting a better deal and fairer opportunities for older people to work and use their skills and experience. It was started after the Carnegie UK Trust conducted an inquiry into the "Third Age" _ a shorthand phrase being used to broadly describe people aged between 50 and 74 years.

The inquiry found that as a result of longer life expectancy and better health care, members of this age group may now expect 20-30 years of active life after finishing full-time work, or rearing a family. "The third age is not a short rest before dependency or death. It is an important and lengthening stage of life which nearly all will experience. With thought and preparation it can be made vastly more rewarding. Millions of third-agers could make an even greater contribution to society and the economy, providing attitudes change and new policies are adapted"

The Third Age Challenge has been pushing for improved employer policies for older workers, campaigning against age discrimination with recruitment agencies, leading projects on third age volunteering, challenging local bodies on their policies for older people, and promoting life-long learning opportunities.

For further contact: John Patterson, Mature Employment Support Association, P.O.Box 13720, Christchurch phone 03-366-4527 fax 03-366-6670

Source _ Notices from Mature Employment Support Association

Researchers from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare say that local and international studies show that the mortality rate of unemployed people is higher than those with jobs, in all social classes. This is particularly striking for deaths from cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, accidents and suicide.

The report says that unemployed men and women aged 25-64 years are found to be twice as likely to say they are in poor or fair health (as opposed to good or excellent health). The jobless also report 30-40% more serious chronic illness and 20-30% more recent health problems.

Source _ The Daily News 16 February 1998 "Unemployment can be fatal by AAP

Phelps asserts that a crucial task for our economic and political system is to devise methods to help less productive workers draw a reasonable wage, thereby reintegrating them into the economic mainstream. His solution: a graduated schedule of tax subsidies to enterprises for every low-wage worker they employ. As firms hire more of these workers, the labor market will tighten and pay levels would rise. Professor Phelps believes that ultimately his program would be largely self-financing, because its cost would be offset by reductions in the cost of welfare, crime, and medical care - as well as by taxes paid by formerly unemployed workers.

"Rewarding Work how to restore participation and self-support to free enterprise" by Edmund S. Phelps (pub Harvard University Press 1997)