Improving employment participation for welfare recipients facing personal barriers. /

Paper presented by Daniel Perkins to the 39th Social Policy Association Conference, University of Birmingham, July 18-20 2006

Bibliography : p. 13-15

There is an increasing recognition that welfare recipients facing significant disadvantage in the labour market are not being well assisted by the conventional labour market programs. Often such job seekers struggle against an interaction of employment and educational barriers combined with a range of personal issues such as mental health problems, substance abuse, criminal records, physical health problems, homelessness, and family breakdown. While there is agreement on the need to provide additional support there is little consensus about what form this should take and whether it can be added to existing programs or requires the development of new initiatives. It is also not clear whether individuals facing personal barriers should be encouraged or required to engage in vocational activities at the same time as addressing personal barriers or whether personal barriers should be addressed prior to providing employment assistance. This paper explores the labour market outcomes for people facing severe personal barriers to employment in Australia the US and Europe. It then considers whether such people want to work, whether work is beneficial or detrimental and examines current policy responses and gaps. The final section of the paper draws primarily on US research to document program elements and models that have been successful in achieving improved employment outcomes for this group.