Making jobs work for doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods

With the launch of our new report with the Centre for Progressive Policy, Local Trust’s policy officer Kyle Vanelli explores the reinforcing cycle of disadvantage in England’s most deprived areas, where work is least accessible and poor-quality work is most pervasive.

The new government has been elected on a platform that includes ambitious targets to kickstart economic growth and make work pay. In light of the growth of zero-hour contracts, insecure work and the gig economy, there is an emerging understanding that for economic growth to tangibly raise living standards, the quality of work must improve.

Creating more work, and better work, is part of the solution, as is new legislation to improve workers’ rights. But the neighbourhoods in England where poor-quality, low paid and insecure work are most common are also the areas where inequalities are the most entrenched. In these areas, wider economic growth or labour market reforms will not shift the dial for residents.

Our report, Breaking the cycle: Delivering good jobs for ‘doubly disadvantaged’ neighbourhoods, analyses a subset of neighbourhoods we term doubly disadvantaged, that experience both high levels of deprivation and low levels of social infrastructure and community activity.  

Neighbourhoods are an important scale for policy analysis and interventions because where you are born, and where you grow up, are among the strongest predictors of your life outcomes.”

These areas have very high rates of economic inactivity, a higher incidence of low-quality work, and worse socioeconomic outcomes compared to deprived areas and the national average. They are also uniquely isolated from their immediate neighbours and wider regional economies.

Why focus on neighbourhoods?

Neighbourhoods are an important scale for policy analysis and interventions because where you are born, and where you grow up, are among the strongest predictors of your life outcomes.

Neighbourhoods are also significant from an economic perspective, defining where and how we access work through transport provision and the quality and availability of education and skills training, careers advice and later job support.

Crucial to this picture are the local institutions and social infrastructure that keep us healthy, connected, engaged and able to work. For example, the resident-led Coastal Community Challenge (CCC) has used Big Local funding to support local people in an area where access to basic services like A&E and secondary schools, via public transport, can take up to two hours. With the area isolated from public services and other economies, CCC has funded or provided grants to support local business development, provide jobs training, deliver preventative healthcare programmes, and assist vulnerable groups.

The double disadvantage and work

To produce this report, we worked with residents of doubly disadvantaged areas to identify what good work means to them: a living wage, secure hours, flexibility and respect. Our findings paint a stark picture and suggest that the economies of these neighbourhoods are far behind the rest of the country – even when compared to other deprived areas.

In doubly disadvantaged areas:

• almost half of working-aged residents are economically inactive
• half of the working population is employed in low-paying sectors
• workers are less likely to work in managerial or professional roles compared to deprived areas and the national average.

Residents describe unreasonable and uncertain hours, too many zero-hour contracts and low pay as the norm. Economic output in doubly disadvantaged areas is more than 50 per cent lower than other deprived areas which have better social infrastructure.

Isolation and a lack of social infrastructure

A striking feature of these neighbourhoods is their relative isolation. Our report presents novel findings which suggest that the rate of economic spillover is lower in these neighbourhoods – meaning that growth in nearby areas is unlikely to turn the tide for them.

Residents of these areas are not only isolated from wider growth but uniquely isolated from job opportunities, with fewer jobs available locally and fewer jobs within commuting distance. Low levels of qualifications and economic inactivity mean that employers are unlikely to invest in these areas, reinforcing their issues.

To make matters worse, our research has identified a lack of connective tissue – the social infrastructure and community activities that keep people happy, healthy, connected and in work.

Doubly disadvantaged areas lack the social infrastructure that strengthens socioeconomic outcomes in other areas: the parks, community centres, libraries and community services that promote good health, contribute to skills development, enhance social networks and create more dynamic economies.

For example, these neighbourhoods have fewer childcare providers per capita than other areas, introducing a structural barrier to employment. Without a strong voluntary sector and little community activity, they lack grant funding which might sustain local services and connect residents to opportunities in other neighbourhoods.

Residents describe unreasonable and uncertain hours, too many zero-hour contracts and low pay as the norm.”

The reality, then, is that residents of these areas are caught in a trap. Low levels of qualifications and high levels of ill health discourage much needed investment while sustaining poor-quality employment opportunities.

Geographic and economic isolation means these areas do not benefit from policies implemented at wider spatial scales and their lack of social infrastructure means that progress is unlikely to come from within.

Towards better work

How, then, do we turn the tide for these neighbourhoods – home to 2.3 million people – where inequalities are most persistent and where investments would generate the greatest returns?

There is no simple solution, but there is a clear and urgent case for specific, long-term and place-based funding for these areas to rebuild their social fabric. The first step towards better employment outcomes in these areas is not job creation but more fundamental support – skills training, health programmes and a revitalisation of the basic social institutions and infrastructure that support everyday life.

As evidenced by our report, these areas are unique and suffer particularly bad outcomes, even when compared to other deprived areas, because of their lack of social infrastructure and social capital. Rebuilding their economies will require us to revitalise social and human capital, mobilise existing resources in these neighbourhoods and begin to connect them to other areas and economies.

Read the full report Breaking the cycle: Delivering good jobs for ‘doubly disadvantaged’ neighbourhoods on the Centre for Progressive Policy’s website.