45126-Invest. Qual-No111

Investment in Qualitysocial inclusion. However, it prospered best when the privatesector could absorb relatively easily the high taxation that wasinvolved. More difficult international trading conditions haveexposed weaknesses in the approach; there is little incentive forskill-upgrading, the private services sector remains underdeveloped,and net outward rather than net inward investment is likelyto ensue.A Continental European approach has set consistently highstandards for employment. Employment brought a relativelygenerous set of entitlements and levels of social protection, bothfor the individual worker and her or his dependants. This socialprotection was funded by insurance charges levied on theemployment contract. In so far as the majority of jobs were highproductivityand full-time, and most ‘breadwinners’ were able tofind one, the approach provided extensive social protection.However, global competition has eroded the share of highproductivity,manufacturing capacity being located in Europeand, in the new services economy, a significant proportion ofjobs are unable to carry high insurance charges and remainviable. Employment prospects for the least skilled are chokedoff. Passive income transfers are relied on to ensure socialinclusion of the low skilled while such low paying private marketservices as develop rely to a significant extent on immigrantworkers.An Anglo-Saxon approach has placed emphasis on allowingprivate market services to absorb low skilled workers viewingsuch employment as having a major role in bringing about socialinclusion. The employment contract is minimally regulated so asnot to lessen the demand for low skilled labour, and welfarepolicy is aligned with employment conditions. The alignmentinvolves different mixes of restrictions to welfare and incentivesto hold low paying jobs. This approach generally results in adynamic market services sector and low welfare dependencyamong people of working age. Its weaknesses are that asubstantial proportion of the jobs which people with low skills394