Supporting Disadvantaged Young People into Work: Insights from the Capability Approach

Abstract

The Capability Approach offers a perspective on the employment activation of young people that is concerned with their freedom to make choices that they value rather than focusing solely on outcomes, such as having to take any job. It incorporates empowerment and the individual and external conversion factors that influence the conversion of resources into functionings for young people, such as getting a job that they value. This paper considers the implications of using the Capability Approach as a lens for analysing youth activation polices. A more capability informed approach to employment activation would not measure success solely by the transition into work, but rather by whether it has improved the young person's capabilities, and might focus, for example, on more sustainable and valued careers and develop individuals' freedom of choice in the labour market. Using data from two UK case studies of third sector organizations that support young people into work, it explores these issues empirically, including the extent to which the programmes enhance the capabilities of beneficiaries. Conclusions on the implications of a Capability Approach for employment activation are made.

A Capability Approach to Unemployed Young People's Voice and Agency in the Development and Implementation of Employment Activation Policies

“…A capability informed approach to employment activation would recognize that empowering jobseekers to choose work that they value also cannot be achieved without taking into account the importance of external conversion factors such as social stratification, labour market conditions or labour market segregation in shaping an individual's choices (Bonvin ; Hollywood et al . ; Egdell and McQuaid ). Taking this approach would also challenge the existing normative framework, which reproduces capitalist relations due to its emphasis on paid work (Avis ).…”

“…The CA was developed by Sen (, , , , , ) as an approach to welfare economics and development, but has since been applied to a variety of policy fields including youth employment activation (Egdell and McQuaid ), school‐to‐work transitions (Otto et al ) and careers guidance (Robertson ). In its application across a range of policy areas, the CA provides a normative language in which to frame social action, based on freedom, well‐being and agency (Deneulin ).…”

“…The CA offers a useful perspective on employment activation as it draws attention to freedom of choice, motivation, what individuals value, and their access to resources (Bonvin and Orton ; Lindsay and McQuaid ; Orton ; Egdell and McQuaid ). A capability informed employment activation policy would take a long‐term perspective and promote an individual's freedom to choose the work they have reason to value (Bonvin and Farvaque ; Lindsay and McQuaid ).…”

“…More generally, although human capital development is recognized in current approaches to address unemployment, the emphasis is on compulsion and rapid labour market entry (Lindsay et al ; Fuertes et al ; McQuaid and Fuertes ). It has been proposed that measures of successful employment activation for young people should be refocused, using the Capability Approach (CA) as an alternative framework (Egdell and McQuaid ). The CA is concerned with what people can do rather than what they actually do, together with substantive freedom of choice, taking account of external factors and personal characteristics (Sen : 232).…”

Facing Trajectories from School to Work

“…As such, the transition into work is not necessarily a positive outcome if a young person does not value it, e.g. if they find the work unsatisfying, or if the job is not in a sector that they are interested in Egdell and McQuaid 2014;. It is in this context that this chapter explores how young people's capability for work can be developed so that they can choose work that they have reason to value.…”