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This paper reports the results of a study of a voluntary skills exchange for unemployed adults in Liverpool. It combines investigation at the organizational level with an interview survey of satisfactions gained by 60 members. Questions posed are how far a skills exchange might go in alleviating the adverse effects of unemployment and then how effective the particular organization was at achieving its potential. Results showed that members attached high importance to the satisfaction of social and psychological needs either within the exchange or in employment. The average satisfaction gained from membership fell short of this. For the small group who were active in the exchange, members were engaged in the equivalent of part-time work. But the broad ideals of the organization and the unfamiliarity of the decision-making setting made it difficult to recruit and retain new members and, hence, increase the organization's impact.

Social security support for unemployed people in Australia in the last decade has become increasingly conditional on their demonstrating ever greater job search effort. Yet we know relatively little about whether this shift accords with public opinion. This paper draws on a study of community attitudes to unemployment and unemployed people, commissioned by the former Department of Social Security, based on review and analysis of attitudinal survey data. Overall the evidence is ambiguous. Although, by international standards, Australians take a relatively hard line on the responsibilities of unemployed people to actively seek work, there is little information available about views on the specifics of activity testing. Also, although a majority opposes greater public expenditure on unemployment, they still see an important role for government in addressing unemployment and supporting unemployed people.

Social security policy towards unemployed people in Australia has become increasingly conditional on their demonstrating ever greater job search effort. The evidence from attitudinal survey data on whether this policy shift accords with public opinion is ambiguous. Although, by international standards, Australians take a relatively hard line on the responsibilities of unemployed people lo actively seek work, there is little information about views on the detail of activity testing. While a majority oppose greater public expenditure on unemployment, they still see an important role, for government in addressing unemployment and supporting unemployed people.

Labour and Conservatives' claims that welfare conditionality is 'fair' rely upon an empirically unsupported assumption that almost-equal opportunities can exist alongside starkly unequal outcomes. Fifty interviews examined in-depth a diverse sample's values, views about work and welfare, and labour market choices. Respondents' views on equality strongly influenced their views on conditionality and what they considered acceptable labour market behaviour. 'Alternative' unemployed respondents, who rejected politicians' suggestions they 'should work', nevertheless favoured an equal society with work obligations and often undertook voluntary work. The article concludes that policy-makers should be more sensitive to Jobseeker's Allowance claimants' diverse moralities and motivations.

Background: Unemployment and mental ill health often contribute to each other and lead to social exclusion with negative consequences for individuals and society. Yet, unemployed people with mental health problems often do not seek care. Aims: The aim of this study was to assess predictors of help-seeking among unemployed people with mental health problems. Methods: At baseline, 301 unemployed participants with mental health problems reported potential predictors of help-seeking in terms of mental health literacy, perceived barriers to care, self-concept as having a mental illness and current mental health service use. At 6-month follow-up, 240 participants reported whether or not they had started new mental health treatment since baseline. Results: Adjusted for symptoms, sociodemographic and work-related variables, help-seeking was predicted by previous mental health service use and by fewer non-stigma-related barriers, not by stigma-related barriers. Conclusion: Implications for interventions to increase help-seeking among this vulnerable group are discussed.

Youth unemployment is of paramount concern for the European Union. Young people are facing potentially slow and difficult transitions into stable jobs. What optimally supports young people on the labour market poses a challenging question for economic policy makers. Active labour market policies can be beneficial to young unemployed people. The aim of active labour market policy is to improve employability of the unemployed. The consequences of an overly generous welfare state can be a reduction in motivation to work. The effectiveness of employment programmes is therefore a crucial step in the process. This paper aims to estimate the treatment effect of subsidized employment programmes on young Dutch unemployed people using difference in differences propensity score matching. We test whether the effects of subsidized employment programmes for young Dutch unemployed people are positive and strong in both the short and long term on the probability of re-employment and on the probability of participation in the regular educational system in comparison with the outcome produced in the event that an individual would continue seeking employment as an unemployed person. The probability of re-employment in short-term circumstances is positive, but small. Whereas with long-term examples (two years after the programme start) the probability is negative. Alternatively, the probability of participation in regular educational systems is positive in the short-term as well as in the long-term, but evidently decreases in the long-term. Welfare reforms undertaken in the Netherlands are directed towards enhancing efficiency. The role of social partners in social security administrations is reduced and the reforms are intended to promote reintegration of people who are out of work. There is a general agreement that the Netherlands is going in the right direction by giving priority to work and study over benefits, as it has become evident that generous social benefits make employment policies inefficient.

AbstractEmployment services are commonly provided in network settings, but it is rare to find social policy analyses of how unemployed people search for jobs through networks. In a germinal analysis of social networks and employment, Mark Granovetter argued that "weak ties" (less familiar contacts) are more important to finding employment than are "strong ties" (family and friends). This is because weak ties provide more novel job‐relevant information. Scholarship since Granovetter has predominantly supported the opposite argument, namely, that strong ties are more important for the unemployed, because they are more plentiful and thus provide more information in aggregate. Findings are also generally coloured by the focus being on "informal" networks or personal contacts. "Formal" networks, as represented most cogently by employment service providers, are absent or underestimated in most social network studies. On the basis of a qualitative study of 80 long‐term unemployed people in Australia, incorporating analysis of both informal and formal networks, we argue that although "strong informal" ties are vital to job search, it is also important to consider "weak formal" ties, which can be complementary if and where service organizations are able to supply positive case management experiences.

AbstractDespite active labour market policies being implemented to increase the skills and job opportunities of the unemployed, the number of people who do not participate in training and other services of job orientation remains high. By providing a model that studies the decision‐making process of a potential participant, we hypothesise there is a behavioural motive behind it. An experiment is carried out to account for both the individual's preference and the social expectations of agents such as the government and her peers with respect to active occupational measures. Findings show that young unemployed individuals are significantly influenced by their peers when deciding whether to participate or not in a training programme. Particularly, negative expectations from the peers cause unemployed potential participants in a within‐ and between‐subjects experiment to be, respectively, 33 and 42 percentage points less likely to take part in job training.

Questo articolo esplora il modo in cui i disoccupati pensano all'occupazione e al lavoro, in un contesto di scarsità di posti e di deterioramento delle condizioni lavorative. L'ipotesi è che, a causa delle incertezze nella ricerca di lavoro, la disoccupazione ridefinisca la relazione dei disoccupati alle norme e agli statuti professionali. L'articolo suggerisce che il concetto di "lavoro fattibile" è utile per teorizzare il modo in cui la disoccupazione modifica le aspettative a proposito di occupazione e di lavoro futuri. L'analisi si basa su 21 interviste approfondite con disoccupati iscritti agli uffici di collocamento pubblici francesi, e alla ricerca di un lavoro autonomo. Questo studio dimostra come la disoccupazione porti a riconsiderare le aspettative occupazionali in risposta alla difficoltà di trovare un lavoro. Dimostra inoltre che la misura in cui i disoccupati aderiscono a queste aspettative conosce delle variazioni importanti in funzione delle risorse biografiche e relazionali dei singoli individui.

Purpose
Community belongingness (CB) has been found to be positively associated with subjective well-being (SWB). Scholars have verified this connection with different social groups. In the present study, the authors are interested in the group of unemployed people and compare their situation to employed people. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether a sense of community belonging prevents negative impacts of unemployment on SWB.


Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a survey conducted in 2016. The data consists of 830 respondents from which 723 had the labor market status (LMS) of employed people and 107 had the LMS of unemployed people.


Findings
The results of this study show that there are both positive and negative factors which support or weaken CB. Interpersonal trust supports the sense of community belonging of individuals, but loneliness weakens their CB. However, unemployed people have a lower rate of CB and SWB comparing to employed people. Furthermore, CB is positively associated with SWB, but this connection is conditional in order that a high rate of CB buffers the negative impacts of unemployment.


Originality/value
The study emphasizes the significance of CB as a basis of SWB. On the other hand, the negative impacts of unemployment can be mitigated by supporting integration of unemployed people into social communities. From a sociopolitical view, the results underline the fact that governmental measurements promote the social inclusion of unemployed people.