The longer-term labour market and community impacts of deindustrialisation: a comparison of the Northumberland coalfield and the Monongahela Valley mill towns

The research focuses on the longer-term impacts of past regional deindustrialisation and, more specifically, the ways in which individual and household decisions have interacted with the local public welfare and cultural context to produce profound long-term community changes, critically affecting future generations of workers. It compares the reasons for, and impacts of, these adjustments in two study areas; the Northumberland coalfield in Northeast England, and the Monongahela Valley steel towns of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Very different patterns of initial responses to job losses were observed between the two areas. These may be characterised as a distinction between ‘place-based’ coping mechanisms in Northumberland, where workers adopted strategies which allowed them to remain in place, and the ‘mobility-response’ in the Mon Valley, as large numbers of industrial workers migrated away to seek employment elsewhere. Individual workers decisions were influenced by several factors. Most significant were the types of alternative work available locally, and the opportunities and constraints arising from different public welfare systems, transport infrastructures and education and training systems. Prevailing local cultural attitudes, norms and values, were also crucial in informing opinions. It is found that in the longer-term there has been no self-righting of the labour market. Instead, a new, more troublesome equilibrium has been established. In Northumberland the growth in economic inactivity has created areas where worklessness has become a norm among social networks, influencing the aspirations, motivations and expectations of subsequent generations. This reflects the failure of British public welfare policy to mitigate the place-specific impacts of industrial decline. In contrast, the longer-term impacts of migration from the Mon Valley left a collapsed housing market, creating a social-demographic shift as the former working class population was been replaced by an incoming population more dependent on benefits or marginal employment. This process reflected the broader failures of American social policy

The impact of cycle proficiency training on cycle-related behaviours and accidents in adolescence:Findings from ALSPAC, a UK longitudinal cohort

Abstract Background Cycle accidents are a common cause of physical injury in children and adolescents. Education is one strategy to reduce cycle-related injuries. In the UK, some children undertake National Cycle Proficiency Scheme [NCPS] training (now known as Bikeability) in their final years of primary school. It aims to promote cycling and safe cycling behaviours but there has been little scientific evaluation of its effectiveness. Methods The sample (n = 5415) were participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children who reported whether or not they had received NCPS training. Outcomes were self-reported at 14 and 16 years: cycling to school, ownership of cycle helmet, use of cycle helmet and high-visibility clothing on last cycle, and involvement in a cycle accident. An additional outcome, hospital admittance due to a cycle accident from 11 to 16 years, was also included for a subsample (n = 2222) who have been linked to Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data. Results Approximately 40 % of the sample had received NCPS training. Trained children were more likely to cycle to school and to own a cycle helmet at both 14 and 16 years, to have worn a helmet on their last cycle at age 14, and to have worn high-visibility clothing at age 16, than those who had not attended a course. NCPS training was not associated with self-reported involvement in a cycle accident, and only six of those with HES data had been admitted to hospital due to a cycle accident. Irrespective of training, results indicate very low use of high-visibility clothing, very few girls cycling as part of their school commute, and less than half of helmet owners wearing one on their last cycle. Conclusions Our results suggest cycle training courses for children can have benefits that persist into adolescence. However, the low use of cycle helmets, very low use of high-visibility clothing, and low levels of cycling to school for girls, indicate the further potential for interventions to encourage cycling, and safe cycling behaviours, in young people

Textiles as Material Gestalt: Cloth as a Catalyst in the Co-designing Process

Textiles is the common language within Emotional Fit, a collaborative research project investigating a person-centred, sustainable approach to fashion for an ageing female demographic (55+). Through the co-designing of a collection of research tools, textiles have acted as a material gestalt for exploring our research participants' identities by tracing their embodied knowledge of fashionable dress. The methodology merges Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, co-design and a simultaneous approach to textile and garment design. Based on an enhanced understanding of our participants textile preferences, particular fabric qualities have catalysed silhouettes, through live draping and geometric pattern cutting to accommodate multiple body shapes and customisation. Printedtextiles have also been digitally crafted in response to the contours of the garment and body and personal narratives of wear. Sensorial and tactile interactions have informed the engineering and scaling of patterns within zero-waste volumes. The article considers the functional and aesthetic role of textiles

An evaluation of the impact of 'Lifeskills' training on road safety, substance use and hospital attendance in adolescence

AbstractPurposeTo evaluate if attendance at Lifeskills, a safety education centre for children in Year 6 (10–11 years), is associated with engagement in safer behaviours, and with fewer accidents and injuries, in adolescence.MethodsThe sample are participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children who attended school in the Lifeskills catchment area in Year 6; 60% attended Lifeskills. At 14–15 years, participants (n approximately 3000, varies by outcome) self-reported road safety behaviours and accidents, and perceived health effects and use of alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco. Additional outcomes from linkage to Hospital Episodes Statistics were available for a sub-sample (n=1768): hospital admittance (for accident-related reason, from 11–16 years) and A&E attendance (for any reason, from approximately 14–16 years).ResultsChildren who attended Lifeskills were more likely to report using pedestrian crossings on their way to school than children who did not attend (59% versus 52%). Lifeskills attendance was unrelated to the ownership of cycle helmets, or the use of cycle helmets, seat belts, or reflective/fluorescent clothing, or to A&E attendance. Use of cycle helmets (37%) and reflective/fluorescent clothing (<4%) on last cycle was low irrespective of Lifeskills attendance. Lifeskills attendance was associated with less reported smoking and cannabis use, but was generally unrelated to perceptions of the health impact of substance use.ConclusionsLifeskills attendance was associated with some safer behaviours in adolescence. The overall low use of cycle helmets and reflective/fluorescent clothing evidences the need for powerful promotion of some safer behaviours at Lifeskills and at follow-up in schools

Local industrial strategy and skills policy in England: Assessing the linkages and limitations – a case study of the Sheffield City Deal

This paper examines changes in local economic development policy which occurred between 2010 and 2015, with a focus on the relationship between industrial strategy and skills policy. Under the Coalition Government, Local Enterprise Partnerships were established and tasked with facilitating local growth, and to do so many identified a set of (potential) growth sectors for industrial strategy to support. These sectors tended to be drawn from a relatively narrow range of industries which therefore often excluded a large proportion of the local economy. An important focus of the support for growth sectors for many has been through an ambition to influence the local skills system. Skills policy more broadly has been an important dimension of devolution, and a number of City Deals have included elements of skills policy. Echoing previous national policy however, the focus of local concerns with skills under devolution has been framed largely with reference to skills gaps and shortages. While specific skills gaps and shortages can be identified, this paper questions whether this default position is reflected widely, and as such, if a narrow focus on skills supply is a sufficient approach. It is argued that to support local growth across a broad base, greater attention needs to be paid to stimulating employer demand for skills through better integrating industrial and innovation policy with skills policymaking across a wider section of the local economy. To support these arguments we present a case study of the Sheffield City Deal

The realities of being young, unemployed and poor in post-industrial Britain

Poverty is a complex cultural phenomenon that is very much in existence in contemporary post-industrial Britain. A young person’s poverty-striken situation, in addition to their marginalised hierarchal position, shapes their repetitive life cycle comprising different but interrelated forms of marginality. The young people in this ethnographic study were found to experience marginalisation in their education, training and work spheres, as well as in their community, family and home. The purpose of this article is to carefully analyse the link between marginalised young people’s (in)ability to participate in key social systems and their (lack of) access to financial, cultural and social resources