‘Got a degree...all of a sudden I'm in a Jobcentre’: The role of 'stigma' in 'precarious' graduate transitions

an article by Adam Paul Formby (University of Leeds, UK) published in Journal of Poverty and Social Justice Volume 25 Number 3 (October 2017)

Abstract

There is widespread evidence that those claiming out-of-work benefits experience different types of ‘benefit stigma’ in the UK, with the focus largely falling on conventionally disadvantaged welfare users.

In contrast, graduates' experiences of ‘benefits stigma’ go unnoticed because of their relative advantage within the labour market. Yet, an increase in precarity across the labour market has unsettled graduate transitions and is re-shaping their relationships with out-of-work benefits.

Against this backdrop, this article explores how graduates respond to different aspects of ‘benefit stigma’. It posits that challenging stigmatising narratives associated with out-of-benefits – is integral to support graduates furthest away from knowledge-based economy jobs.

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Responding to change in Jobcentres

This report from the National Audit Office did not quite have me foaming at the mouth but very nearly.

OK, so maybe I was already in a grumpy mood this morning but …

First, it took me ages to find the actual document having seen a short report about it in another publication; then it insisted that it would only load in Adobe Reader not my preferred Foxit and to finish me off it does not allow simple copy and paste to bring you the highlights.

Moan over!

It’s here and is actually worth reading.

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Working age claimants with complex needs - Qualitative study

a study by Dan Donaldson published by the DWP (In-House Research No 12)

This small-scale qualitative study of frontline Jobcentre Plus staff was commissioned to supplement the existing evidence base that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) holds about working age claimants with complex needs.

The study explored:

• how complex needs are defined by Jobcentre Plus staff,
• which claimants Jobcentre Plus staff consider to have complex needs and why, and
• areas for improvement to the service identified by staff.

The fieldwork comprised six focus groups of Jobcentre Plus staff, conducted during July and August 2011. They took place in six areas across the Country (Greater Manchester; East London; Durham and Tees Valley; Glasgow, Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire; Thames Valley; and West Yorkshire).

Findings from the research will be used to inform ongoing efforts to improve service delivery for working age claimants with complex needs by DWP Operations. The research will also add to the wider evidence base for working age claimants with complex needs to inform the implementation of Welfare Reform policies and future policy developments.

Full report (PDF 22pp)

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Changes to Jobcentre Plus vacancies statistics

DWP press release

In late autumn 2012 there will be fundamental changes in Jobcentre Plus handling of employer vacancies and services in support of job search. The existing source of administrative data is being decommissioned. This means that existing National Statistics on Jobcentre Plus vacancies will cease. There will be no further releases on Nomis.

A new service will be introduced to provide job search services to all jobseekers. New internet-based statistics from this system will be available to all users. This will provide wider coverage with timely and frequent updates. However, definitions will not be consistent with the existing statistics.

These changes are largely driven by the need to improve the service to job search customers. However, there are substantial benefits for statistical users too, as well as some changes to the structure of the series.

Further information is available here

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The introduction of Jobcentre Plus: An evaluation of labour market impacts

a research report from the Department for Work and Pensions (RR871) by Rebecca Riley, Helen Bewley, Simon Kirby,Ana Rincon-Aznar and Anitha George (National Institute of Economic and Social Research)

The main objective of the analysis in this report is to assess the labour market impacts of the introduction of Jobcentre Plus. Specific questions addressed are:

• What impact has the introduction of Jobcentre Plus had on the numbers of people moving off benefit and into work?
• What impact has the introduction of Jobcentre Plus had on the employment rate overall and the employment rate of different sub-groups?
• What impact has the introduction of Jobcentre Plus had on the wider economy, including output and the public finances?

Chapter 3 of the report discusses the potential changes to exits from benefit to work for the three main client groups that may arise with the changes in service delivery brought about with Jobcentre Plus.

Full report (PDF 171pp)

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Improved access to careers advice

from Touchbase e-zine

Unemployed people will be given better access to careers advice, starting with a trial programme that will significantly boost the number of careers advisers providing services through the Next Step service.

The trial, which will take place in 22 Jobcentre Plus locations across England, will also help shape the new National Careers Service, which starts in April 2012.

The programme will give Jobcentre Plus claimants full-time access to careers advice through the Next Step service and provide better, more flexible support to help jobseekers gain the skills they need to find work. Minister for Employment Chris Grayling said: “We want to make sure that we give those looking for work the right skills that mean when we put them in front of an employer, they get the job.”

“Too often in the past jobseekers were sent off to do long courses that taught them skills that local employers didn’t value. That’s all changing - we are getting people ‘job ready’ to take advantage of the opportunities being created across the economy.”
The new support is part of a wider skills support programme for unemployed people that launched in August 2011.

For more information go to Next Step (Directgov website)

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Jobcentre Plus customer survey 2011

 DWP Research Report 775 by Nicholas Howat and Emily Pickering (TNS-BMRB)

In 2010 a feasibility study into the future of the Jobcentre Plus Customer Survey recommended several changes to the research including a move to more regular surveys and changes to the structure of the questionnaire (for further detail, see DWP Report No. 681 Feasibility study for the future Jobcentre Plus Customer Satisfaction Survey (PDF 172pp)). The main objective of the new survey is to monitor satisfaction with the service by identifying particular elements which lead to higher and lower levels of satisfaction. The survey also helps to identify elements of the service that generate unnecessary contacts and leads to inefficiencies in delivery. This report presents the findings from the first year of the new survey.

Fieldwork took place between the 19 January and the 30 March and in total 2,803 telephone interviews were completed, providing nationally representative feedback from Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Employment Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit claimants.

ISBN 978-1-908523-24-2

RR 775 Jobcentre Plus customer survey 2011 (1.4 MB) PDF 51pp
RR 775 Jobcentre Plus customer survey 2011 - appendices (361 KB) PDF 69pp

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Identifying Claimants Needs: …

Research into the Capability of Jobcentre Plus Advisers

DWP Research Report RR748

by Anne Bellis, Joy Oakley, Maria Sigala and Sara Dewson (Institute for Employment Studies, University of Sussex)

The identification of skills and skills needs is a feature of government employment services and is delivered through Work-Focused Interviews (WFI) conducted by Jobcentre Plus personal advisers. In addition to helping people to prepare and look for work, personal advisers can refer claimants for training provision or careers advice if this is deemed necessary to make a return to the labour market.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) commissioned the Institute for Employment Studies to:

• undertake research to explore how “skills need” is defined by Jobcentre Plus personal advisers;
• examine how claimants’ skills needs are identified by advisers at the present time; and
• build an understanding of how the identification of skills can be embedded within the Jobcentre Plus offer.

This research has been entirely qualitative and is based on observations of 112 WFIs conducted by 57 advisers across ten Jobcentre Plus districts. The collection of evidence included a series of short interviews with personal advisers to probe on key issues arising from the WFIs and the reasons for actions taken by advisers in relation to skills. Fieldwork for the study was carried out between September and November 2010.

June 2011 54 pages 297x210mm

ISBN 9-781-84712-982-6

Full report (PDF 41pp)

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Access to work-related training

DWP Research Report 749 by Claire Johnson, Paul Sissons, Joy Oakley and Sara Dewson (Institute for Employment Studies)

The 2006 Leitch Review of Skills recommended the creation of a new integrated employment and skills service. Since then, the welfare system has undergone reform to help meet this objective, of which the Integrated Employment and Skills (IES) trials, introduced in 2008 and ending in August 2010, have been a key element.

In the later stages of these trials, a new system of Enhanced Joint Working (EJW) was introduced in non-trial areas. Like the IES trials, EJW was intended to identify claimants' skills needs through enhanced screening processes and where appropriate direct them towards support from Next Step.

The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills commissioned the Institute for Employment Studies to evaluate the IES trials. Between September and November 2010, visits were made to three IES trials districts and two EJW districts. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a range of respondents including Jobcentre Plus and Next Step district-level managers responsible for the implementation of the IES trials or EJW, Advisory Services Managers, Jobcentre Plus and Next Step advisers, Jobcentre Plus claimants who had been referred to Next Step and skills providers working with Jobcentre Plus or Next Step.

This report builds on previous qualitative evaluation work and has a particular focus on whether, and how, claimants get access to appropriate work-related skills training via a Jobcentre Plus or Next Step referral.

RR747 published June 2011 ISBN: 9-781-84712-983-3

Full report (PDF 74pp)

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Now it's personal

Also this week an ippr report (Now It’s Personal: Personal advisers and the new public service workforce) revealed that frontline services provided by Jobcentre Plus, much trumpeted by government as new tailored services to get people back to work quickly, are badly stretched. ippr found that Jobcentre Plus Personal Advisers providing one-to-one support for jobseekers are doing almost twice as many interviews with benefit claimants since the beginning of the recession and almost half of advisers surveyed do not feel they have enough time to help people.

Following the publication of the report, ippr is holding a seminar this coming Tuesday June 23rd looking at the relationships between welfare to work providers and skills and training providers. To confirm your attendance, please email events@ippr.org or telephone 020 7470 6100.

Read about the event and read the report at the ippr website.

Hazel’s comment:
I’m sorry that I shan’t be able to get to London for the event but my quick glance at the report (6pp in the Exec Summary, 91pp full) shows that Jobcentre Plus staff are experiencing very similar problems as those of us in Jobcentres in the 70s experienced – too many people chasing too few jobs.

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