influences in shaping young peoples employment aspirations: case - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

30th September 2016 – HSRC Seminar

The importance of socio-spatial influences in shaping young people’s employment aspirations: case study evidence from three British cities

Anne E. Green Institute for Employment Research University of Warwick, UK

Anne.Green@warwick.ac.uk

Structure

• Why place matters:
• hype
• theoretical perspectives
• reality
• Geography of labour markets:
• different scales
• ‘for whom does geography matter most’?
• Socio-spatial influences on young people’s

employment opportunities and aspirations:

• role of social networks
• place attachment
• employer preferences

Why place matters

Why place matters (1): hype and theory

Hype: in the face of ‘globalisation’ -

• “the death of distance” (Cairncross, 1997)
• “the flat world” (Friedman, 2005)

Theory: New Economic Geography –

• spatial differentials in employment opportunities are

likely to diverge over time through processes of clustering and accumulation

• spatial inequalities are inherent in economic growth →

unbalanced growth is an inevitable consequence of successful economic development

Why place matters (2): theory

Evolutionary economic geography

• regional and local economic trajectories are shaped by

historical and current circumstances – places carry their history with them Regulation School

• labour markets are socially embedded and constituted

institutional spaces in which formal and informal customs, norms and practices underpinning employment practices are played out

• place-specific developments matter in understanding

how local labour markets evolve over time and how employers, agencies and individuals behave

Why place matters (3): reality

The work of Richard Florida (2002, 2005, 2008) –

• place is more important than ever before
• the clustering of talent, innovation and creativity → “the

spiky world”:

“The place we choose to live affects every aspect of our being. It can determine the income we earn, the people we meet, the friends we make, the partners we choose, and the options available to our children and families.” “There are real trade-offs to be made. Many people who move for their careers will give up the joy of being near family and

• friends. Those of us who stay close to family and friends may

give up economic opportunity.”

The geography of labour markets For whom does geography matter most?

The geography of labour markets (1)

• Labour markets often seen as national and/or

international:

• professional elites
• role of digitalisation and crowdsourcing: working across

borders

• With international migration there is increasing interest in

transnational links between regional and local labour markets

• blurring of ‘national’ and ‘international’ migration
• penetration of migrant labour beyond traditional migrant

gateways

The geography of labour markets (2)

• “the labour market” suggests a unity absent in practice
• multiplicity of sub-markets demarcated by various criteria

– e.g. occupation, industry, part-time working, etc.

• geographical division of labour markets: largely a

consequence of monetary and psychological costs of extensive daily travel to work and often greater costs of migration between areas

The geography of labour markets (3)

• Majority of

commuting journeys are short

• Journeys

are shorter for unskilled workers than for those in professional

• ccupations

Average commuting distance by occupation, 2001 - England and Wales

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Managers & senior

• fficials

Professional Occupations Associate professional & technical

• ccupations

Administrative & secretarial

• ccupations

Skilled trades

• ccupations

Personal service

• ccupations

Sales & customer service occupations Process, plant & machine operatives Elementary

• ccupations

TOTAL kilometres

UQ Median LQ

Source: Table W205, 2001 Census

For whom does geography matter most? (1)

• Jobs demanding higher level skills can be filled by those

with such skills; jobs requiring lower level skills can be filled by those with higher and those with lower level skills → those with poorer skills have a smaller pool of jobs available to them

• It is not worth travelling far for low pay

→ from any given location those with poor skills are likely to search for jobs over a spatially smaller area than those with higher level skills

• Geography matters most for the disadvantaged and

those with poor skills: the quantity and quality of jobs available locally is of particular importance for them

For whom does geography matter most? (2)

Objectively:

• There are more
• pportunities available to

local residents in some areas than in others → where people live matters:

• more opportunities in central

than in peripheral areas

• more opportunities in urban

than rural areas

• access to transport matters

Subjectively:

• People process information

through a place-specific perceptual filter → ‘subjective’ geographies of

• pportunity may be much

more limited than ‘objective’ geographies of

• pportunity
• ‘bounded horizons’ and

relative immobility tend to constrain labour market behaviour

Socio-spatial influences shaping employment

• pportunities and aspirations

Key messages from a study of social networks and place attachment of young people

• In terms of access to training and employment
• pportunities for young people in disadvantaged areas:
• Place and identify can be powerfully connected

This may result in some young people not considering

• pportunities beyond their immediate locality, or which

differ from those conventionally followed by local people

• Geography (and history) matters

Where people live is important, but perceptual geographies are also as important – there are differences in ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ opportunity structures

Methodology (1)

• Survey of 60 young people aged 15-24 years in a

deprived neighbourhood in each of three English cities:

• Hull
• Walsall
• Wolverhampton
• individual characteristics
• links to and attitudes to local area
• patterns of mobility and use of transport
• current economic activity, future employment intentions
• job search methods, sources of information and advice
• knowledge of employment locations

Methodology (2)

• Four focus groups in each neighbourhood
• exploring local area perceptions in greater detail – via

drawing of mental maps “a cognitive map is a cross section representing the world at one instant in time. It reflects the world as some person believes it to be; it need not be correct. In fact, distortions are highly likely. It is your understanding of the world, and it may only faintly resemble the world as reflected in cartographic maps or color photographs.“

Downs and Stea (1977: 6)

• individuals invited to sketch a map with as much content

as possible – e.g. location of home, college / workplace, landmarks, transport, jobs; no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way

Methodology (3)

• Focus group discussions (each with 4-8 participants)

also explored:

• attachment and attitudes to the local area
• knowledge of local job opportunities
• factors influencing job search behaviour
• employer attitudes
• barriers to mobility
• future labour market intentions
• future residential locations

Methodology (4)

• Eight individual face-to-face interviews in each case

study area:

• more nuanced discussion on attitudes about social

networks, place attachments, perceptions, experiences, future goals

• One-to-one interviews with key stakeholders:
• economic development and regeneration project staff
• representatives from further education
• public transport organisations
• employers

Characteristic Hull Walsall Wolverhampton

Location of deprived neighbourhood East Hull – 3 miles from city centre Peripheral location – north-west Walsall Central area – adjacent to city centre Sub-regional context of city Peripheral city – no

• ther major urban/

employment centres close by Edge of West Midlands metropolitan area – polycentric urban context Main city in Black Country – well connected to Birmingham, central England Demographics Overwhelmingly White British population in neighbourhood and city Overwhelmingly White British population in neighbourhood; mixed in Walsall > 50% non-White – Asian/Asian British (particularly Indian) and Black/Black British; large Sikh population; less mixed in city.

Characteristic Hull Walsall Wolverhampton

Educational infrastructure context Few 6th forms in schools (for post- compulsory education) FE College in city centre University – west Hull Academy school in neighbourhood Other schools

• utside

neighbourhood FE College in town centre Local secondary schools FE College and University close by Participation of young people in post compulsory education Marked increase in staying on rates in recent years Entry to HE remains much lower than average Despite increase in staying on rates in recent years these remain lower than average Entry to HE is lower than average Traditionally relatively high staying on rates - higher than average Entry to HE is much higher than the all neighbourhoods’ average

Characteristic Hull Walsall Wolverhampton

Occupational profile of residents in employment Dominated by elementary

• ccupations, followed

by operative and skilled trades

• ccupations

Higher than average share in skilled trades and personal service

• ccupations

Bi-modal profile – with greater than average shares in higher level and elementary

• ccupations

Location vis-à- vis job

• pportunities

Very few jobs in immediate area; jobs mainly in other parts of the city Job opportunities not in immediate vicinity, but close by and in

• ther parts of the city

region Job opportunities in the neighbourhood and close by Public transport Reasonable links – especially to city centre Good bus service to Walsall centre; poor to industrial estates Good public transport links – bus, metro, rail

• Most young people in case study areas in Hull, Walsall

and Wolverhampton wanted to work

• Nearly all recognised qualifications as important
• Strong reliance on friends and family in shaping attitudes

and aspirations – can be a ‘way in’ to work “I get loads of support from family and friends … It is harder for people without family” (18 year old, Hull)

• Family and friends may play a more important role in

shaping behaviour than formal services

• But may lead to reliance on what is ‘known’ – favouring
• f familiarity and conventionality, with young people

reiterating “Mum & Dad’s blinkered views”

Social networks and employment aspirations

• Belief that it is who you know that matters:

“Getting jobs is all about who you know – it does not depend entirely on qualifications” (18 year old in employment, Wolverhampton)

• Family and friends cited as facilitating access to

employment through:

• imparting intelligence about job openings
• word of mouth recommendations
• providing advice on what employers are looking for
• Types of social connections:
• bonding social capital
• bridging social capital

Who you know, not what you know

Social networks: opportunity

Social Networks...

Give young people strong advantages in the labour market

(a) Provide valuable sources of support (b) Directly influence patterns

• f recruitment

“My mum used to work in the fire service. And that's what I want to do. I know it means working hard, but mum's brought me some information that I need to read. “ (17 year old, male, Hull)

Encouragement to pursue interests Encouragement to take up education and training Connections in employment networks Suggest channels for gathering info.

Social networks: constraint

Social Networks...

Where networks and knowledge information sources are incomplete/ blinkered

(a) Reduce ambition (b) Curtail Choices

“Work has to fit in with home life... not vice versa" (Training manager, Hull) Discouraged to think about/ pursue interests Discouragement to take up education and training Familiar

• ptions

Familiar locations

(Un)bounded horizons

• Some mental maps show detailed spatial awareness of

home area, but ‘blank space’ beyond: “here be dragons”

• Strong place attachment evident in some cases:

“emotional or affective bonds which an individual feels to an area or place (which may in turn partly be a function of various forms of practical attachments to place as well)”

(Livingstone et al., 2008:1)

• Some highlight transport routes and linkages –

experience of travelling around the local area

• Importance of sports and recreational activities, and of

work itself, in opening up horizons

How spatially constrained are training, jobs and careers?

• How far young people think it is

reasonable to commute is influenced to some extent by friends and family: “I’d commute for an hour to find work – my Dad does the same” (18 year old, Walsall) “I want to work round here. All my mates work round here: they won’t look for work anywhere else” (17 year old, Hull)

• Many did not want the hassle of

more than one bus – Is it transport or attitude to using it that is the problem?

• Low wages are a key factor

in understanding how geographically constrained people are in their job search – not worth travelling far for a low wage

• In some cases an

expectation of working nearby – even if industry is no longer there (‘time warp’)

“We have always worked ‘here’; you don’t want to be going ‘there’ for work”

How spatially constrained are medium-term residential ambitions?

• Fierce commitment to place:

“I’d never live and work out of

• Hull. God no! I’d live here ‘til

the day I die. I know loads of people round here”

(unemployed male, Hull)

• Liking a place, but without

being tied: “I like Hull, but I am not ‘tied to it’ like some people are. For some people Hull if their comfort zone and they do not want to move on”

(female school student, Hull)

• Transcending space:
• personal capital – self-

confidence, ambition, high levels of motivation

• social capital – influence of

family and friends; residential mobility in extending (as well as constraining) ambition (i.e. not uni-directional)

Observations and Conclusions (1)

• Subjective factors influence people’s decision-making

about their opportunities alongside physical constraints

• Work opportunities perceived are usually a subset of the
• bjective opportunities available
• Place shapes people and their outlooks, and how they

interpret and act on what they see - some ‘transcend space’ in their aspirations and knowledge of

• pportunities, others are ‘trapped by space’

Observations and Conclusions (2)

• Not all neighbourhoods or people are the same: location,

history, socio-demographic and economic characteristics are crucial in understanding how they operate

• Appreciation of socio-spatial influences and localised

cognitive spaces has potential to inform design and implementation of more nuanced policy approaches regarding young people and the labour market

Employer preferences: (why) does it matter where workers live?

• Numerous allegations by job applicants / residents of

areas with a poor reputation of postcode discrimination in employment

• Interviews with employers suggests it plays only a

modest role, and a field experiment showed a very slight net preference for candidates from areas with a bland reputation, but not statistically significant

• Some employers have overt preferences for workers

from ‘convenient’ / ‘local’ / ‘accessible’ neighbourhoods’ - so workers can get to get to the workplace as required

• distance to workplace, ease of travel, access to private

/ public transport, temporal aspects of employment

Selected references

• Green A.E. and White R.J. (2007) Attachment to Place, Joseph Rowntree

Foundation, York

• Green A.E., Shuttleworth I. and Lavery S. (2005) ‘Young people, job search and

local labour markets: the example of Belfast’, Urban Studies 42 (2), 301-324

• Tunstall R., Green A., Lupton R., Watmough S. and Bates K. (2014) ‘Does Poor

Neighbourhood Reputation Create a Neighbourhood Effect on Employment? The Results of a Field Experiment in the UK’, Urban Studies 51 (4), 763-780

• White R.J. and Green A.E. (2011) ‘Opening up or closing down opportunities?:

The role of social networks and attachment to place in informing young people’s attitudes and access to training and employment’, Urban Studies 48 (1), 41-60

• White R.J. and Green A.E. (2015) ‘The importance of socio-spatial influences in

shaping young people’s employment aspirations: case study evidence from three British cities’, Work, Employment and Society 29 (2), 295-315