Lone Parent Obligations: work, childcare and the Jobseeker’s Allowance régime

a DWP Research Report (RR 782) by by Pippa Lane, Jo Casebourne, Lorraine Lanceley and Malen Davies (Inclusion)

Lone Parent Obligations were introduced in November 2008. Since then, based on the age of their youngest child, lone parents have lost entitlement to Income Support (IS) solely on the grounds of being a lone parent. From October 2010, the age of the youngest child was lowered to seven and over.

This report presents findings from qualitative research with lone parents who made a claim for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), either as a new or repeat claimant, or following the transition from IS, when their youngest child was seven. Sixty in-depth interviews were carried out with lone parents in three case study areas during June and July 2011. The interviews explored issues such as work readiness, childcare, claiming JSA, looking for work and any experience of moving into work.

The research was carried out by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (Inclusion).
December 2011

Full report (PDF 92pp)
ISBN 9-781-90852-338-9

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Flexible New Deal evaluation: …

customer survey and qualitative research findings

A new report that documents evaluation of the Flexible New Deal (FND) between November 2009 and January 2011 has been published by the Department for Work and Pensions. This research includes findings from:

• qualitative research conducted with FND jobseekers and providers; and
• a survey to compare the outcomes and experiences of customers experiencing FND with those experiencing the former JSA regime and New Deals to assess whether jobseekers felt the support they received through FND was as effective in helping them find or move closer to work.

The research consisted of qualitative research into customer and provider experiences of FND delivery and a quantitative survey of customer experiences of FND in Phase 1 areas compared with customers at the same point in their claims experiencing the former Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) regime and New Deals in Phase 2 areas. Comparisons between the two areas provide an indication of FND services in contrast to JSA/New Deal services but they do not constitute an impact assessment.

This is the fourth in a series of evaluation reports aiming to understand experiences of the Jobseekers Regime and Flexible New Deal (JRFND) from the point of view of customers, Jobcentre Plus staff and provider staff, and establish the extent to which JRFND leads to additional customer employment outcomes.

DWP Research Report 758 by Sandra Vegeris et al was published 30 June 2011

ISBN: 9-781-84712-994-9

Full report (PDF 240pp)

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