Entering and leaving employment in deprived neighbourhoods undergoing area regeneration

Abstract

Concentrations of worklessness have been persistent in the UK for several decades but have not been tackled effectively by policy. An individualised approach to unemployment has existed, alongside employment policies without a strong geographical component. A reliance on area-based regeneration programmes has shifted from a property-led to a holistic approach, with the potential to address a range of factors associated with employment. To gauge the effectiveness and appropriateness of holistic area regeneration, this paper uses longitudinal survey data to examine movements into and out of employment for people living in deprived areas of Glasgow with concentrated worklessness and subject to area regeneration. There were modest net gains to employment over time in the study areas, and such gains were positively associated with traditional elements of regeneration such as housing improvements and community empowerment. However, other components of regeneration assumed to aid employment, such as social networks and participation in training, were found to have no effect. Other factors that were associated both with entering or leaving employment feature less frequently within regeneration programmes and require more integration into future approaches, particularly increasing physical activity among populations, helping people cope with physical and mental health issues, and improving transport and mobility.

Multipartite attitudes to enterprise: A comparative study of young people and place

“…We question whether this implies an assumption that young adults in prosperous areas have careers whereas those in deprived areas should become self-employed. Further research could open up such assumptions and examine enterprise alongside education, career prospects and other factors influencing young adults in deprived areas (Kearns and Mason, 2018;McGarvey, 2018).…”

“…Further research could open up such assumptions and examine enterprise alongside education, career prospects and other factors influencing young adults in deprived areas (Kearns and Mason, 2018;McGarvey, 2018).…”

“…Studies of entrepreneurship in 'low-income' or 'depleted' communities suggest lack of fit (Johnstone and Lionais, 2004;Williams and Williams, 2012), limited entrepreneurial potential and entrepreneurial deficits (McKeever, Jack and Anderson, 2015). Problematization of low-income communities in this way has been criticised (Bates and Robb, 2011;Southern, 2011;Parkinson, Howorth and Southern, 2017) alongside suggestions that some area-based programmes and policies exacerbate marginalization (Amin, 2005;Lee, Sissons, Hughes et al, 2014;Kearns and Mason, 2018).…”

The effects of social housing regeneration schemes on employment: The case of the Glasgow Stock Transfer

“…In the case of residents of the renovated estates, the causal processes may work (in non-mutually exclusive ways) through improvements in the physical quality of the occupied dwelling unit and/or social-interactive processes within the housing development (Kearns and Mason, 2018). Damp, mould, vermin, poor upkeep, overcrowding – conditions that often characterised social housing affected by the Stock Transfer – have been linked to adult stress, depression, hostility and inferior health outcomes (Chambers et al, 2015; Coley et al, 2013; Jacobs et al, 2009), all of which could impede an individual’s ability to find and keep a job.…”

Soft power and hard choices: A critical perspective on health and inclusion in disadvantaged communities

“…Led primarily by local authorities and Community Planning Partnerships, the potential of place-based initiatives as a mechanism for addressing health inequities is coming increasingly to the fore within local policy and planning in Scotland (Improvement Service, 2016). Nevertheless, a large scale longitudinal study of the impacts of regeneration in Glasgow has shown that some strategies generally assumed to support people into employment, such as participation in training, had no effect; rather, support with physical and mental health and increasing physical activity were significant factors, while the participative aspects of regeneration were associated with psychosocial benefits, such as feelings of status and control, that are allied to positive mental wellbeing (Kearns and Mason, 2018). Participative approaches, supporting communities of place and of interest to successfully influence or manage change, can be seen as an entry point to increasing health equity for different people of working age, and beyond (see Clark and Wise, 2018).…”