The importance of human capital for growth and social inclusion is set out in this paper from theTreasury. It was written jointly with the Finance Ministries of Sweden and Germany.

The paper focuses on the issue of human capital for promoting employability and social cohesion. The knowledge-based economy favours workers with higher skills which need to be updated through the lifecycle. Human capital formation is therefore crucial to promote opportunity and employability of workers, and to increase the innovative capacity of companies and economies.

Lifelong learning is crucially important, but education alone is not enough. It has to be complemented by policies to remove barriers to labour market participation. The paper identifies some common features of successful policies and draws on examples of modern policy design and development from across Europe.

The paper is available from HM Treasury. http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/8/2/socialbridgesii040308.pdf