Title

Finding work in rural areas: barriers and bridges

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

1999

Subject Area

Location - Rural, Location - UK, Population - Youth

Abstract

Comparatively little is known about economic disadvantage and social exclusion in rural areas. This study by Sarah Monk, Jessica Dunn and Maureen Fitzgerald of Anglia Polytechnic University and Ian Hodge of the University of Cambridge looked at barriers to labour market participation and bridges into employment in two contrasting rural labour markets in the east of England. The study consisted of a questionnaire survey together with in-depth interviews with people who were seeking work or surviving on low wages. The study found: While there were differences between the labour markets in the two areas, people faced the same sorts of problems in both areas and the responses of individuals to unemployment and disadvantage were remarkably similar. There were distinctly rural aspects to people's experiences and behaviour in both areas. These related particularly to transport, distance and a limited range of local opportunities. There was a mismatch between people's skills and the types of jobs available and a limited range of opportunities to match against individual requirements in terms of location, skills and working hours. Difficulties of getting between home and work and the costs of working, including transport and childcare, were all barriers to finding suitable employment. The seasonal nature of some rural employment caused problems for some, while gang labour in agriculture was poorly paid with poor working conditions. Sometimes employers' provision of housing or transport helped people get work although this could also trap people into unsatisfactory employment. Employers' behaviour and attitudes reinforced a barrier to finding work in rural areas. Some thought that people who had to travel long distances or depended on public transport were unreliable. Many employers did not formally advertise vacancies but relied on word of mouth, which was a constraint for those without local contacts. Reliance on informal local networks was one of the main ways of getting work, although this excluded recent incomers. For some, low incomes, personal circumstances and transport problems led to social exclusion. Others saw some degree of recourse to the informal economy as essential.