Many of the most disadvantaged people in the labour market also live in the most disadvantaged places. As part of a concerted drive to get people off welfare and into training and work the Government has established a new Working Neighbourhoods Fund that focuses on the most deprived areas and which supports local authorities and communities in their efforts to tackle worklessness and the other elements of deprivation.
What can we do to get people back into the job market?
For many on incapacity benefit including people with learning disabilities and mental health issues, the third sector can play an active role by providing supportive, flexible work environments and access to personal mentors to provide a bridge between unemployment and mainstream employment. Actively working in partnership with local employers to increase awareness and challenge misconceptions about employing people with disabilities has been shown to have a positive impact on employment opportunities.
Of particular concern for government are young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs). The landscape here is more complex as young people who have not engaged positively with mainstream education have low expectations, limited aspirations and face substantial pressure from their peers to stay on the margins. In inner city areas especially, gang and knife culture is increasingly prevalent. Here again, the third sector may offer possibilities to engage young people in very localised projects that reflect the lifestyles and interests of young people. Motor vehicle workshops, for example, have proved effective routes to delivering alternative curriculum activity for young men at risk of becoming NEETs.
A more fundamental challenge is changing attitudes and behaviour. In disadvantaged areas there is often a culture of not working with generations of families living on benefit who have no real desire or intention to work. Combined with low levels of qualifications and aspirations, high incidence of teenage pregnancy, substance misuse and poor health, people living in disadvantaged areas pose real challenges for government. Clearly, there is no quick fix. Only time will tell if concerted action by a range of public, private and third sector partners can deliver real change.
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