Unemployed people
Unemployment restricts people's opportunities not just through lack of income but also by limiting their social networks. Unemployment is often linked with other disadvantages. People are more likely to be unemployed if they have:
- few or no educational or vocational qualifications;
- physical or mental health problems;
- involvement with substance misuse (drugs or alcohol); and
- a history of offending.
Transformation Fund projects engaged with many unemployed people. Projects succeeded in:
- providing activities that interested and engaged new learners - Space East
- encouraging creativity and communication - Mad Alice Theatre Company
- developing new skills and confidence - Coast Net
- connecting people with their communities and providing progression routes to volunteering, training and employment - Crewe YMCA
Informal adult and community learning can bring a wide range of benefits to unemployed people. It can improve physical and mental well-being, impart new confidence and skills and involve people in new community networks. Some learners gained work-related skills which gave them new directions for future vocational training. Many more gained "soft skills" which are important for employability, through taking part in team work and improving their communication skills.
Where projects focused on unemployed people facing multiple disadvantages they were more successful when:
- they consulted potential learners about what they would like to do, and provided a range of "tasters" and short courses that people could dip into without making a long-term commitment;
- they involved front-line organisations already in contact with these groups, and provided learning opportunities based around the interests of the learners;
- support workers and other trusted intermediaries were fully on board, providing encouragement and reminders to learners who had chaotic lifestyles, and even accompanying them to sessions and taking part in learning activities themselves;
- enthusiastic participants engaged others by word of mouth recommendation, becoming informal "learning champions";
- project partners were able to offer links to further learning opportunities or progression into volunteering or employment; and
- through project partnerships organisations developed more "joined up" ways of working which will continue to benefit the service users.
If you want to engage unemployed learners you will find:
- "Bitesize" opportunities to get involved in informal adult and community learning can be very effective particularly when people have health problems or chaotic lifestyles and find it difficult to commit to regular activities.
- You will need skilled learning facilitators to motivate these learners, who have often had poor experiences of school which continue to affect their attitudes to education.
- Support workers from trusted intermediary organisations have a key role to play. Building partnerships with front-line organisations is crucial, both for recruiting new learners and providing information advice and guidance (IAG) and progression routes to build on the momentum created by the informal learning experiences.
- Many different learning activities can help participants to develop employability skills. It's not necessary to emphasise employability skills at the start of the learning programme, but when participants review their learning at the end of the programme you can help them identify the new skills they have gained and highlight how these could help them in future employment.
In recent years government policy has emphasised the issue of young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). However there is also a sizeable proportion of the adult population of working age (aged 19-65) who are NEET.
Many unemployed people have experienced multiple disadvantages which have contributed to their lack of employment. For example, people with no or few educational or vocational qualifications, people with physical or mental health problems, people who have issues with substance misuse (drugs or alcohol) and ex-offenders are all more likely to be unemployed for long periods. This can lead to social isolation and a downward spiral. However in the current economic downturn many people have found themselves out of work after previously being in regular employment, and these unemployed people may have good skills and qualifications which do not match the employment opportunities currently available.
Transformation Fund projects were able to provide support to groups experiencing multiple disadvantages, by opening up pathways back into engagement with the community through informal adult and community learning, which could lead on to re-engagement with training and employment. Newly unemployed people were able to engage in informal adult learning which allowed them to share their existing skills, discover new interests and learn new skills.
Web Links
Report on 2010 seminar on needs of the disadvantaged
This website reports on a 2010 seminar, attended by John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education Skills and Lifelong Learning, BIS and a number of providers that took part in research on the needs of the disadvantages.
