Employmentweb_low

policies and interventions
9.6. assessinG policy inTervenTions
While evidence indicates that the employment conditions identified
in this book exert profound effects on health, we cannot meet these
challenges through simple policy solutions. rather the complex and
dynamic nature of employment conditions, and the range of specific
country contexts, call for an array of policy interventions operating
at different levels (see case studies 94 to 99). nonetheless, they
must all take note of the trends uncovered in this book, such as
avoiding the harmful side-effects of neo-liberal policies on work
arrangements in both poor and wealthy countries. drawing on an
array of sources, this chapter has identified a series of policy
interventions that can address these challenges, many of which
have already been implemented (albeit often on a minor scale).
our ability to evaluate interventions is limited by the
comparatively recent nature of some changes to employment “The order is that no one goes hungry” - msT
conditions, the even more recent nature of some remedies (such (landless workers movement) demonstration
as supply chain regulation) and the more general paucity of in Brazil.
research on the effectiveness of interventions (Bambra, egan, source: antonio rosa (1999)
Thomas, petticrew, & Whitehead, 2008; egan et al., 2007; egan,
Bambra, petticrew, & Whitehead, 2009). nonetheless, many of the
policies identified make intuitive sense because they are directed at
those characteristics (economic deprivation, disorganisation,
disempowerment and regulatory failure) that, as evidence suggests,
cause the problems (for a parallel analysis see labonte &
schrecker, 2007). policy interventions also need to be informed by
an understanding of gender effects, since some employment
conditions disproportionately marginalise women (artazcoz, Borrell,
cortès, escriba-aguir, & cascant, 2007). as noted elsewhere in this
book, evidence on the effectiveness of some current,
internationally-promoted interventions, such as corporate social
responsibility and micro-credit, is ambiguous (Blowfield, 2007). on
the other hand, available evidence indicates that less-publicised
measures, such as food or income support for the poor, has
alleviated the incidence of child labour in countries like Brazil.
The aforementioned tables and discussions place considerable
emphasis on infrastructure (poverty alleviation, universal education
and public health facilities, government inspectorates) and
regulation (international standards and agreements, laws and
enforcement). This is because governments and their agencies are
in a position to provide comprehensive standards and laws, as well
as enforce them. These policies also set a framework for community
expectations, thus influencing other actions and giving them a
dramatically more far-reaching scale than more targeted policies.
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