Leading experts examine, for the first time, the impact of New Labour policies on the labour market over the past 5 years. Looking behind the 'good news' implied by the lowest headline unemployment rates since the 1970s and by a low and stable rate of inflation, it will examine the impact of policies such as the minimum wage, the New Deal, Working Family Tax Credit scheme, policies on lone parents, and changes in the education system. It also looks at the impact of growing income inequalities over this period, on the growing geographic concentrations of joblessness and on the new phenomenon of widespread total economic inactivity amongst certain social groups.