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Rewarding responsibility? Long-term unemployed men and the welfare-to-work agenda

Rewarding responsibility? Long-term unemployed men and the welfare-to-work agenda
Rewarding responsibility? Long-term unemployed men and the welfare-to-work agenda
In this paper we explore the responses of a group of long-term unemployed men to chronic labour market insecurity and ‘active’ labour market policies promoting individual responsibility for employability. We draw from an evaluation of a recent pilot scheme: the UK Employment Retention and Advancement Demonstration. We identify a range of responses, shaped through experiences which reflect gender, class, and age divisions. Despite significant labour market disadvantage, some of the men responded by proactively engaging with the employability agenda. Drawing on qualitative longitudinal data, we follow the trajectories of the men in work, examining how they fared in insecure, precarious labour markets. We conclude by looking at the strengths and limitations of the current policy agenda, suggesting that more creative ways need to be found to engage some of the most disadvantaged in the reskilling agenda and that employers are currently a ‘weak link’ in the package of support provided
0263-774X
975-990
Ray, Kathryn
31dabd40-00af-4915-b288-22c45594b19b
Hoggart, Lesley
a3478a22-31e8-4c0a-b0eb-b8d8121fa199
Taylor, Rebecca
5c52e191-4620-4218-8a61-926c62e087c5
Vegeris, Sandra
bf090a55-51dd-4228-b6c2-75f151fedf5c
Campbell-Barr, Verity
c6a73dee-e503-4caa-aac0-680c4bac6e46
Ray, Kathryn
31dabd40-00af-4915-b288-22c45594b19b
Hoggart, Lesley
a3478a22-31e8-4c0a-b0eb-b8d8121fa199
Taylor, Rebecca
5c52e191-4620-4218-8a61-926c62e087c5
Vegeris, Sandra
bf090a55-51dd-4228-b6c2-75f151fedf5c
Campbell-Barr, Verity
c6a73dee-e503-4caa-aac0-680c4bac6e46

Ray, Kathryn, Hoggart, Lesley, Taylor, Rebecca, Vegeris, Sandra and Campbell-Barr, Verity (2009) Rewarding responsibility? Long-term unemployed men and the welfare-to-work agenda. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 27 (6), 975-990. (doi:10.1068/c0852).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In this paper we explore the responses of a group of long-term unemployed men to chronic labour market insecurity and ‘active’ labour market policies promoting individual responsibility for employability. We draw from an evaluation of a recent pilot scheme: the UK Employment Retention and Advancement Demonstration. We identify a range of responses, shaped through experiences which reflect gender, class, and age divisions. Despite significant labour market disadvantage, some of the men responded by proactively engaging with the employability agenda. Drawing on qualitative longitudinal data, we follow the trajectories of the men in work, examining how they fared in insecure, precarious labour markets. We conclude by looking at the strengths and limitations of the current policy agenda, suggesting that more creative ways need to be found to engage some of the most disadvantaged in the reskilling agenda and that employers are currently a ‘weak link’ in the package of support provided

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More information

Published date: 26 October 2009
Organisations: Social Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 375214
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/375214
ISSN: 0263-774X
PURE UUID: 14b5c360-3b5e-493a-a4f5-d0c6e8ff0ab1
ORCID for Rebecca Taylor: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8677-0246

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Date deposited: 16 Mar 2015 12:06
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:51

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Contributors

Author: Kathryn Ray
Author: Lesley Hoggart
Author: Rebecca Taylor ORCID iD
Author: Sandra Vegeris
Author: Verity Campbell-Barr

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