The Unequal Unemployed

Using Northern Ireland as its focal point, this book contends that unequal employment is the result of numerous discriminatory frameworks and practices. Unemployed Catholics and Protestants have been the subject of an intense and vocal dispute about the nature of inequality for those out of work, and this throws up a number of questions about social engineering, the validity of equal opportunities, and individual and state responsibilities, which the text tries to answer. Using survey evidence, gathered as part of a comprehensive evaluation of anti-discriminatory policy, the authors reject the notion that unemployment differences between Catholics and Protestants can be understood in terms of personal attitudes and "religious culture". Instead, they argue that unequal unemployment is the result of numerous discriminatory frameworks and practices, all of which are open to policy intervention.