A Capability Approach to Understand the Scarring Effects of Unemployment and Job Insecurity: Developing the Research Agenda

Having a poor start in the labour market has a ‘scarring’ effect on future employment and well-being. Indeed, unemployment at any point of the life-course can scar. While there is extensive quantitative research examining scarring effects at the macro- and meso-levels, evidence regarding scarring from the micro-level that provides insights into individual perceptions, values, attitudes and capabilities, and how they shape employment trajectories is lacking. A qualitative approach which avoids the imposition of values and choices onto individuals’ employment trajectories, and accounts more fully for the contextual constraints which shape available options and choices, is argued for. In emphasising people’s substantive freedom of choice, which may be enabled or constrained by contextual conditions, the Capability Approach is proposed as providing a valuable lens to examine complex and insecure labour market transitions. Such an approach stands in contrast to the supply-side focused active labour market policies characteristic of neo-liberal welfare states

Financial capability: evidence review

This report provides a brief overview of current evidence on financial capability as it relates to disadvantage in Scotland. It was commissioned by the Scottish Government and carried out by the Employment Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University in order to provide an evidence platform for stakeholders, with an interest in financial inclusion, to develop a more strategic approach in their support for financial capability. Current high levels of individual indebtedness, an increasingly complex and rapidly changing financial landscape, an increased focus on individual responsibility and the effects of the current financial crisis, indicate there is a growing need for improved financial capability. However, as demonstrated by Scottish Household Survey (SHS) data, large parts of the population such as many young or unemployed people lack full financial capability. This report does not consider the availability and regulation of financial services as these are generally reserved matters and not directly the responsibility of the Scottish Government.Report of the Scottish Government Social Inclusion Divisio

Engaging low skilled employees in workplace learning : UK Commission for Employment and Skills Evidence Report no. 43

The Employee Demand study (UKCES, 2009) highlighted the significant barriers to learning that are faced by a number of UK employees. This report sets out the findings of a study into the motivators and barriers to participation in workplace learning by low skilled employees. Employees in low skilled jobs are a group which has been overlooked in previous research. The study was carried out by the Employment Research Institute (ERI) at Edinburgh Napier University on behalf of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (the UK Commission). The report presents the results of a survey of both employee and employer views on participation in workplace learning in the care sector in north east England and the hotel sector in Yorkshire and Humberside. As well as a standard survey, the report also outlines the stated preference approach adopted. The stated preference approach allows employees to consider a hypothetical case of participation in workplace learning. Employees were given choices of combinations of job and learning related factors that might affect their preference for or against workplace learning. In conclusion, the report suggests many positive features which employers, individuals and policy makers could build on in developing the skills of people in low skilled jobs, which is important in securing our competitive advantage in the long term

Engaging low skilled employees in workplace learning

This report sets out the findings of a study into the motivators and barriers to participation in workplace learning by low skilled employees. Low skilled in the UK is usually considered to be below NVQ level 2 qualifications. The study was carried out by the Employment Research Institute at Edinburgh Napier University on behalf of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. The report presents the results of a survey of both employee and employer views on participation in workplace learning in the care sector in north east England and the hotel sector in Yorkshire and the Humber region. The hotels and catering sector has the highest relative and absolute skill gaps in low skilled occupations, with some 63 per cent of staff suffering skills gaps. In contrast, the care sector has an apparent strong training culture, with care staff expected to progress to NVQ level 3 and only five per cent of low skilled staff suffered a skills gap

Nature of band-gap states in V-doped TiO2 revealed by resonant photoemission

Band-gap states in V-doped TiO2 have been studied by photoemission spectroscopy over a range of photon energies encompassing the Ti 3p and V 3p core thresholds. The states show resonant enhancement at photon energies significantly higher than found for Ti 3d states introduced into TiO2 by oxygen deficiency or alkalimetal adsorbates. This demonstrates that the gap states relate to electrons trapped on dopant V cations rather than host Ti cations

The role of skills from worklessness to sustainable employment with progression

This study is shaped by the recognition that while there has been a great deal of policy development around the transition from unemployment and inactivity to employment over the last decade, policy has not been sufficiently informed about how best to nurture sustainable employment for those at risk of labour market exclusion. The review focused on evidence from 2005: it provides a review of data, UK and international literature and, incorporates findings from four international case studies ( Australia, Germany, Denmark and the United States. The report provides an overview of the economic context for low pay and low skilled work and highlights the need for a continuing commitment to promoting opportunities in the labour market as a means of progression and alleviating poverty and encouraging social mobility. The report argues that there is an inextricable link between skills and ‘better jobs’. The authors conclude that a long-term view is required to decide how best to support someone at the point of worklessness: to address employability barriers in the short-term; and prepare the individual to retain, and progress in, employment. The concept of career is explored as a framework for progression: a combination of career guidance, a career / personal development plan and career management skills are identified as tools to raise aspiration and enable individual’s to take action once they are in work to support their own progression. Thinking about the workplace, the report reviews the evidence on the role of job design, line management and progression pathways in facilitating workplace learning as a route to progression

PACE – Towards a Future Delivery Model

The Employment Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University was commissioned by the Scottish Government to help develop a future delivery model for the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE). The Scottish Government established the PACE Partnership on 23 June 2009 to bring together agencies with an interest in PACE. This report forms part of the work assigned to the PACE Delivery Workstream, which was charged with undertaking a review of the current mechanism for delivery of PACE support and highlighting areas for improvement. This report sets out some of the issues related to developing the operational delivery of PACE. The focus is on the broad service delivery model at the local level, so relatively little is said about the core, national PACE operation. It is based upon a review of the PACE Work Stream event and other material and interviews with selected PACE chairs. PACE is not ‘broken' and generally appears to offer an appropriate service. There are a number of challenges and strengths in the current system and there is scope for improvement

Impact of Welfare Reform Qualitative study

The aim of this study was to explore the impact of ongoing welfare changes on a range of working age households in Scotland. The study consisted of four interview sweeps over a three year period (2013-16), and was carried out by the Employment Research Institute at Edinburgh Napier University and the University of Stirling. This report presents the findings from the final sweep of the study, and reflects on the study findings as a whole. The study used a longitudinal qualitative methodology to explore participants’ perspectives on how welfare reform affected them, and to follow their experiences over time. The study drew on the real life experiences of those in receipt of working age benefits to provide rich, in-depth insights into the impact of welfare reform. Forty-three individuals took part in Sweep 1 of the study, thirty-five in Sweep 2, twenty-eight in Sweep 3, and twenty-four in Sweep 4. The sample design sought to represent the experiences of working age benefit recipients across a range of locations and socio-demographic characteristics, including lone parent and low income families, disabled claimants, and those in rural areas. Interviews in Sweep 4 sought to establish any changes in participants’ circumstances since the previous sweep. Participants were also asked to reflect on how their situation had changed since the first interview around three years earlier, and on how they felt benefits issues could be handled differently in the future. The policy implications of the findings from Sweep 4 and across the study are grouped together under two main headings: mitigating actions that the Scottish Government could take to reduce the impact of welfare reforms that sit outside its jurisdiction; and issues to consider in the design and implementation of new devolved benefits. It should be noted that these recommendations are not definitive suggestions, but they reflect the experiences of the participants in this study.Study by Stirling University and Employment Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University funded by the Scottish Government, EQUALITY, POVERTY AND SOCIAL SECURITY grou