International Journal of Public Sector ManagementImproving employment and women's well-being in regeneration programmesKaren Escott Lisa Buckner

Article information:To cite this document:Karen Escott Lisa Buckner, (2013),"Improving employment and women's well-being in regenerationprogrammes", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 26 Iss 3 pp. 250 - 263Permanent link to this document:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-10-2011-0125

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Improving employment andwomen’s well-being in

regeneration programmesKaren Escott

Department of Architecture and Planning, Sheffield Hallam University,Sheffield, UK, and

Lisa BucknerSchool of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

Abstract

Purpose – How does women’s labour market disconnection impact on health and well-being? Thepaper seeks to explain how economic isolation can cause low self esteem for women. Neighbourhoodanalysis provides the opportunity to explore some of the operational contradictions in public policyand how they are experienced in regeneration areas.Design/methodology/approach – Local dynamics of employment and health are examined inneighbourhoods in two UK cities. The research draws on focus group data involving local women aswell as interviews with representatives of statutory and voluntary organisations. Examination ofrelevant statistical data supports the evidence base on women’s well-being in these regeneration areas.Findings – By analysing labour market characteristics and local women’s experiences, depressionand low esteem in relation to low incomes, barriers to employment and discrimination emerge asparticularly important aspects of well-being. The paper suggests that policy makers often fail to makethe connections between women’s marginalisation from the labour market and the causes ofpersistently high levels of poor health.Practical implications – Policy implications suggest that public agencies seeking to promoteeconomic sustainability need to consider health issues along with other neighbourhood characteristicsas part of a holistic approach to labour market activation.Originality/value – The originality lies in engagement with several areas of public managementpractice aimed at addressing poverty and improving community well-being. By exploring issues ofeconomic inactivity, employability and ill health among women the findings help inform policiesseeking to address problems of worklessness in local neighbourhoods.

Keywords Worklessness, Labour market, Women’s health, Regeneration,Regeneration programmes, Improving employment, Quality of life, Social policy, United Kingdom,Urban areas, Public health

Paper type Research paper

IntroductionLow employment rates, poor health and persistent disengagement with the labourmarket are acknowledged challenges in UK policies aimed at regenerating local

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available atwww.emeraldinsight.com/0951-3558.htm

International Journal of Public SectorManagementVol. 26 No. 3, 2013pp. 250-263r Emerald Group Publishing Limited0951-3558DOI 10.1108/IJPSM-10-2011-0125

The authors would like to thank the local stakeholders and local women who took part ininterviews and focus groups. All 2001 Census data taken from the Standard Census and ThemeTables are copyright of the Crown and are reproduced with the permission of the Controller ofHer Majesty’s Stationery Office and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland, HMSO. The 2001 SAM isprovided through the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (University ofManchester), with the support of the ESRC and JISC. All tables containing Census data, and theresults of analysis, are reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’sStationery Office and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland.

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communities. Under New Labour, priorities to revitalise local economies and improveservices recognised the importance of addressing health concerns. This wasdemonstrated by specific interventions to tackle the causes of worklessnessalongside considerations of community well-being (Cabinet Office, 2005; DCLG, 2007a).Recent policy changes in favour of prioritising economic growth suggest acontinuing concern with labour market disconnection but at the same timea weakening of the importance of health and well-being as a key factor inregeneration (HM Government, 2010). The Coalition Government’s reframing ofregeneration suggests community-led approaches designed to enable growththrough labour market interventions supporting “vulnerable individuals”, in turncontributing to the regeneration of the areas in which they live (DCLG, 2011).However, this claim in the context of an economic recession, reductions in publicspending and new welfare to work initiatives, such as the tightly defined workprogramme, magnifies and deepens problems for those living in deprived areasacross the UK. A shift away from social concerns as a focus for regenerationironically comes at the same time as government announcements to measurenational success not only in terms of economic wealth, but in terms of overall“national well-being” (Department of Health, 2010; ONS, 2011).

This paper explores one aspect of this wider policy discourse by examining thesignificance of worklessness to health and well-being in areas which have been inreceipt of considerable regeneration investment. We consider the ways in whichwomen’s labour market experiences influence their health. We ask whether localagencies address the well-being of local residents through a sufficiently comprehensiveapproach to regeneration which includes an understanding of the full range of factorsinfluencing health and employment.

Well-being and employmentThe concept of well-being, whilst difficult to define, is often discussed as an importantfeature in improving neighbourhoods and raising aspiration (Hothi et al., 2007).Community well-being has been associated with a complex mix of social and economicfactors, one of which is access to employment and is exemplified in Layard’s study ofhappiness and public policy which argued that work was one of the seven mostinfluential factors of well-being (Layard, 2004). More recently the beneficial effects ofwork to physical and mental health and well-being have been underscored by findingsthat show that when people become unemployed their happiness falls, less because ofthe loss of income than because of the loss of work itself (Wadell and Burton, 2006;Bacon et al., 2010).

International initiatives informing recent interpretations of well-being linkpositive mental health to a state of well-being “in which the individual realises hisor her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productivelyand fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” (WHO,2007). A focus on well-being also provides an opportunity to explore the effectivenessof public policy in the context of the now familiar theme that happiness does notnecessarily increase with economic growth once basic needs have been met (Easterlin,2001; Young Foundation, 2009).

Many of the theoretical well-being models centre on physical health andpsychological needs (Huppert et al., 2005) and on social capital (Putnam, 1995).Well-being is not confined to positive feelings but has a number of other dimensions,including autonomy and personal growth which also suggests the importance

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of understanding well-being throughout the life course (Ryff and Keyes, 1995;Abbott et al., 2008). In the context of meaningful employment being an importantdimension to most interpretations of well-being (Seligman, 2003), physical healthaspects could be interpreted to include levels of income and easy access to labourmarket opportunities, whereas psychological aspects may include concerns oftenassociated with worklessness such as stress and depression and feelings ofworthlessness. However, it may be more helpful to consider them as interrelatedrather than separate aspects of well-being and to explore how they are experiencedby people at different stages of their lives.

A wealth of evidence confirms that there are clear links between socio-economiccircumstances and health (Whitehead, 1992; Acheson, 1998). Studies illustrating howliving on low incomes and being out of work can be psychologically damaginginform our thinking about the implications of labour market engagement for well-being (Wilson and Walker, 1993; Payne, 2001). Mental health problems have beenidentified amongst those who face particular barriers to employment and amongthose working for very-low pay (Social Exclusion Unit, 2004; Ritchie et al., 2005).This relationship between well-being and unemployment and consistent evidencethat workless people exhibit poorer mental health and lower levels of well-being thanthose in employment has tended to centre on groups regarded as particularlyvulnerable (Warr, 1994; Clark and Oswald, 1994; Oswald, 1997; Flatau et al., 2000).For example, the notion that men are more adversely affected by unemploymentthan women is a common conclusion in studies of those who have recently lost theirjobs. However, Flatau et al. (2000) presented a wider interpretation of types ofemployment and concluded that part-time employees and those not in the labourforce (discouraged job seekers) also appear at a disadvantage in terms of well-beingrelative to full-time employed people. Poorer well-being, including feelings ofdepression and alienation, may also reduce the potential of workless people toseek employment. Lack of work can lead to not only loss of income but otherelements of well-being including reduced opportunities to use skills, less inter-personal contact and lower valued social positions as well as lack of purpose (Warr,1994; Creed and McIntyre, 2001). Some specific aspects of well-being at work havebeen subject to gendered analysis but the question of whether worklessness hasdifferent well-being effects on different groups of people has received much lessattention (Pugliesi, 1995).

Well-being measures are increasingly being applied to economic modelsmeasures with concepts such as rewarding work, engaging work and an adequateincome informing the development of economic indices (Diener and Seligman,2004). Although legislative standards for measuring well-being have not yet beenadopted, there is a body of work in the US and Europe suggesting the need formore regulation and in the UK there are moves to go beyond universal well-beingmeasures and to develop measures which combine all aspects of well-beingand to make them more appropriate to particular localities (Steuer et al., 2007;Michaelson et al., 2009; ONS, 2011). In spite of proposals to introduce nationalwell-being ratings, New Labour’s concept of neighbourhood well-being trialledby local organisations seeking to address long term deprivation has largely beendiscarded in the Coalition Government’s reorientation towards a pro-growthagenda in which support to communities largely overlooks the health andwell-being dimensions so important to assessing labour market interventions(DCLG, 2008, 2011).

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Regeneration and welfare responsesNew Labour’s regeneration programmes sought to improve health and well-beingas one of several central themes to tackle problems in the most deprived parts of UKcities. Alongside this broad aim, strategies to address health inequalities focused onregeneration initiatives as a suitable vehicle at the neighbourhood level (Department ofHealth, 2002; Hothi et al., 2007). In addition to the benefits of improving peoples’physical and mental health are the indirect benefits for employment, quality of life andlevels of stress (DETR, 1996). This assumption was particularly evident in the new dealfor communities (NDC) programme running from 1998-2008, which sought to reduceinequalities in crime, worklessness, education, housing and health between 39 targetareas and the rest of England (Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, 2002).

Recent policy to address multiple deprivation through locally based initiatives,often includes the argument that addressing worklessness will improve well-being(Social Exclusion Unit, 2004; Parnell, 2008). Under New Labour regenerationinvestment to address local economic priorities included specific initiatives such as theWorking Neighbourhoods Fund designed to tackle low employment rates in whichlocal agencies were expected to shape the delivery of the Government’s welfareagenda to help people move into employment (DCLG, 2007a). This approach, whilstarticulated to some extent in the new work programme, has already been criticised forit’s limited potential to assist people living in economically weaker areas (DWP, 2011;Work Foundation, 2011).

Central to local government’s duty of economic and social well-being in theSustainable Communities Act is the expectation that proposals from communitieswill contribute to sustainability and well-being in local areas (DCLG, 2007b). Thegender equality duty added weight to the importance of exploring the differentexperiences men and women have within regeneration areas and to policies whichdemonstrate gender mainstreaming (Equal Opportunities Commission, 2007). Thecombination of better local understanding of worklessness and the need for genderedanalysis of local regeneration strategies indicates the need for new types of labourmarket analysis (Simmonds and Bivand, 2008; Yeandle et al., 2008).

In spite of the policy links, evaluations of health data in regeneration programmeshave not been systematic and few have assessed health impacts or impacts on thesocio-economic determinants of health (Cave and Curtis, 2001; Parry et al., 2004;Thomson et al., 2006). Thomson et al. (2006) found a lack of baseline and comparabledata across case study areas suggesting that the impact of public investment toameliorate deprivation and improve health remains unknown. A study of the singleregeneration budget which showed no improvements in mental health amongst localresidents concluded that the initiative, which had assumed benefits would result fromimproving infrastructure and employment, may have had little impact because it failedto remove “restricted opportunities”, indicating residents’ frustrated attempts to makeimprovements to their lives (Huxley et al., 2004). More recently, a study of NDC areasfound minor health improvements across comparator areas with older people andwomen less likely to find employment and experience of smaller increases in income(Stafford et al., 2008). This is reflected in the poverty indicators and qualitativeresearch findings from six regeneration areas, where women expressed feelings of lowself-esteem, associated with limited labour market opportunity, which restricted thepotential to improve their well-being (Escott and Buckner, 2006). Proximity to schools,child care and transport have also been found to be important to those feelings ofwell-being (Escott and Buckner, 2006; Mguni and Bacon, 2010).

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Women’s povertyWhilst female labour market participation has increased in recent years, women are morelikely than men to be economically inactive and to live in poverty. Yet there is relativelylittle evidence examining how labour market disengagement influences women’s well-being (Women’s Budget Group, 2005). Given that poverty and poor health are so closelyconnected, this study seeks to explore the effects of these two aspects of well-being onemployment and aspiration for disadvantaged women. This includes consideration ofhow limited access to the labour market appears to particularly influence the health ofeconomically inactive women, including ethnic minority women and young women withrelatively little work experience (Grant and Buckner, 2006; Escott and Buckner, 2006). Thepoverty associated with unemployment has been found to be particularly demoralisingfor lone parents who tend to be women (Payne, 2001). Poor health and low self-esteem,often associated with the stress of managing poverty, have been highlighted in otherresearch (Bradshaw et al., 2003; Yeandle et al., 2003). In all, 40 per cent of incapacitybenefit recipients suffer from mental illness, including stress and depression and surveyevidence shows that the proportion of women on incapacity benefits has risen (Centre forEconomic Performance, 2006; Beatty et al., 2008). Apart from analysis of incapacitybenefits, there is little understanding of the wider health issues influenced by problems ofaccessing employment highlighted in discussions about the importance of the quality oflocal services (Escott, 2008).

In this paper well-being is explored by examining some of the dynamics of economicpoverty and health in deprived neighbourhoods in two UK cities (Newcastle andBirmingham). It analyses data from women who participated in small focus groupsliving in localities which have seen several decades of industrial change as part ofa national study on poverty and regeneration (Escott and Buckner, 2006). The paperalso draws on interviews conducted with statutory and voluntary organisations.Examination and analysis of relevant statistical data, in particular from the 2001census of population, supports the evidence base.

The study neighbourhoodsMethodologyThis study focuses on women living in two neighbourhoods in Birmingham andNewcastle by exploring how their experiences and views of the labour marketimpacted on their health and well-being. Although census data are presented for bothwomen and men in order to identify the scale of worklessness in the twoneighbourhoods, the study confines its analysis to the effects on women through thefocus groups and qualitative interviews.

The research undertaken in the two cities included three Newcastle wards (Byker,Monkchester and Walker) and two Birmingham wards (Ladywood and Soho). It used avariety of methods, including statistical analysis of ward-level data; documentaryanalysis of regeneration strategies and evaluations; 24 key stakeholder interviews; andfocus groups with women living in the selected wards. In all 38 local womencontributed to this research.

Each of the study areas had received significant regeneration funding overthe study period aimed at addressing high levels of poverty. The Newcastleneighbourhood has a relatively stable population, with a similar mix of ages to therest of the city. A high proportion of female lone parents were unemployed and ahigh proportion of economically inactive residents suffered from poor health andlimiting long-term illness (LLTI) (ONS, 2003).

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Persistently high rates of deprivation were also characteristic of the Birminghamneighbourhood. The area is much more ethnically diverse than the East Newcastlewards, with residents of Indian, Pakistani and Black Caribbean origin representing themajority of the population. Recent migration into the area, which is close to the citycentre, mainly involves households living on very low incomes.

Worklessness and poor healthWorklessness is defined for the purposes of this study to include unemploymentand economic inactivity. To get an accurate picture of the economic position of theresidents, students were excluded from the analysis. In England, over a third ofworking age women and a quarter of working age men (excluding students) areoutside paid employment. Together these economically inactive and unemployedpeople in England totalled over 6.65 million in April 2001 or 29 per cent of all womenand 19 per cent of all men who were not students.

In the two cities included in our research worklessness exceeded the national rate,with over a quarter of men and a third of women in Birmingham and Newcastle beingeither economically inactive or unemployed (Table I). In some parts of the selectedregeneration areas as many as one in every two women was outside paid employmentand not studying (Table I). These men and women who were economically inactive inEngland at the time of the 2001 census fall into a range of categories including thoselooking after their home and/or family full-time (who may variously be looking afteryoung children, be carers of sick or disabled people, or be other full-time homemakers),those who are not in paid work because of their own long-term sickness or disability,the early retired, and those who are seeking work but not available to start work in thecoming two weeks.

Table I differentiates between LLTI (defined in the 2001 census as any long-termillness, health problem or disability which limits your daily activity or the work youcan do) and poor health (taken from the census question which asked “over the last12 months would you say your health has on the whole been good, fairly good or notgood”) for the wards in our study. The data shows that wards with high levels ofunemployment and economic inactivity (worklessness) are statistically more likely( po0.05) to have high levels of LLTI and poor health.

Worklessness (%) Poor health (%) LLTI (%) Permanent sickness/disability (%)Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men

Birmingham 39 28 15 16 10 10 7 8Ladywood 45 40 17 19 12 12 8 12Soho 65 45 18 19 13 13 9 11Newcastle 34 30 15 18 9 11 8 12Byker 46 43 22 28 14 19 14 21Monkchester 53 49 24 30 15 17 14 22Walker 54 51 25 31 17 19 16 22England 29 19 12 14 8 8 5 6

Notes: aWorking age is defined here as men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. Worklessnessand permanent sickness or disability percentages exclude students the numbers of which can havea significant impact ward levelSource: 2001 Census Standard Tables, Crown Copyright 2003

Table I.Worklessness and health

amongst people ofworking agea

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A further worrying feature of the study areas was the high level of permanentsickness and disability among residents. Across England 5 per cent of women and6 per cent of men of working age (excluding students) were permanently sick ordisabled, that is, 18 per cent of women and 34 per cent of men gave this as the reasonfor their worklessness. In Byker ward in Newcastle this rose to 14 per cent of womenand 21 per cent of men, or 30 per cent of women and 48 per cent of men who wereworkless (excluding students). The finding shows that permanent sickness anddisability is high in the regeneration areas, and is a more important reason forworklessness among men than women. The gendered and neighbourhood variationsin the health reasons stated by men and women for their labour market disconnection,suggest that distinctive factors shape the relationship of different groups living indisadvantaged neighbourhoods with labour markets.

In addition to permanent sickness and disability, other health problems emergeas an important dimension for people disengaged from the labour market in theseneighbourhoods. A high proportion of people in these areas who are not in employmenthave a LLTI so may be not well enough to work but not ill enough to be permanentlysick or disabled. 2001 census data show that in the Newcastle wards in particular,a high proportion of people (37 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women in Byker and39 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women in Walker compared with 33 per cent ofmen and 26 per cent of women in England as a whole) who were not in work but werenot permanently sick or disabled had a LLTI. In Ladywood 29 per cent of men andwomen who were not in work but were not permanently sick or disabled had a LLTI,and in Soho the corresponding figures were 29 per cent for men and 28 per cent forwomen, respectively. Since rates of worklessness are higher for women in these areas,the analysis suggests that examination of the problems facing those who areeconomically inactive as well as unemployed or in receipt of incapacity benefit, thehealth issues remain largely hidden for women.

Many women articulated their health concerns in the focus groups by explaininghow they felt depressed as a result of being out of work. They felt that the difficulties oflabour market engagement contributed to their poor health:

That’s why a lot of people get really ill from depression. Sitting at home with their kids andthey’ve got nobody to talk to. It’s really, really hard (Focus group participant, Birmingham).

Mental health problems were identified as an issue for many women from ethnicminority communities in the Birmingham area, especially those with heavy domesticresponsibilities. A common view emerged that not being in work and staying at homecan cause depression and isolation.

Worklessness and worthlessnessWomen of different ages and different ethnicities tended to have differing experiencesof job seeking and welfare services, but all groups expressed views about their feelingsof worthlessness in the labour market. Many of the young women in the focus groupwere particularly influenced by limited aspirations and feelings of low self-esteem:

Younger women don’t see themselves as having any skills. They don’t really know whataspiration is. They live day to day with nothing much to look forward to or think about(Stakeholder interview, Newcastle).

There is an inability to see and understand that they actually do have an ability to makedecisions, and that those decisions can impact on the quality of your life (Stakeholderinterview, Newcastle).

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The aspirations of focus group participants varied according to previous labourmarket experiences. Many women were highly motivated, but had been demoralisedby poor responses from employers and lacked the support they needed to progress:

In this area you find issues such as low self-esteem because you can’t find a job. You know, thefeeling of being worthless, of not being good enough and this contributes to what ishappening in the community (Focus group participant, Birmingham).

It’s not that they lack aspiration as such, it’s that they are scared about it (Stakeholder,Newcastle).

Participants also highlighted the broader benefits of employment. Althoughemployment may not provide a very noticeable increase in household income, it wasfelt that health and well-being, may improve:

They (women) get up in the morning for their children. They battle for their kids, even thosewomen with depression (Stakeholder Interview, Newcastle).

Many aspire to working in local services such as schools, but did not feel able to gainaccess to childcare qualifications which are needed to work in this environment.Women also wanted improved opportunities for the younger generation and betterchances for their children. They did not want to feel they were discriminated againstby a particular postcode and the stereotyping attached to the area.

Workless householdsThe research showed that the poverty associated with worklessness was a seriousconcern in discussion of neighbourhood well-being. This came across strongly in boththe interviews with key-stakeholders and the focus groups with local women in theBirmingham and Newcastle wards:

Many women live on low incomes whether they are in work or not; if they are in paid work ittends to be low paid. People get by, but only just (Stakeholder interview, Newcastle).

Many women, especially lone parents, are living hand to mouth (Stakeholder interview,Birmingham).

Our statistical analysis shows that in these wards high proportions of dependentchildren live in families with no working adult (Table II), and the level of workless

Children in worklesshouseholds (%)

Loneparents %all parents

Lonemothers

% allmothers

Lone mothers% all women

aged 16-74

Unemployed lonemothers % all

unemployed womenaged 16-74All dependent Aged 0-4

Birmingham 29 31 21 32 11 23Ladywood 37 42 33 47 14 25Soho 39 39 31 45 20 36Newcastle 28 31 19 30 9 21Byker 44 52 32 47 14 21Monkchester 45 53 32 47 19 37Walker 49 53 30 44 14 32England 18 20 14 23 8 11

Note: Parents/lone mothers include all people/women aged 16-74 with dependent childrenSource: 2001 Census Standard Tables, Crown Copyright 2003

Table II.Family/households in the

study neighbourhoods

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households in all the wards studied far exceeded district and national averages.Household pressures were considered particularly important to women in theirposition within household and their views of well-being:

Women often worry about everyday needs. The money, the bus fare, the day’s shop for milkand bread (Stakeholder Interview, Newcastle).

I think there is a lot more pressure on women to do the housework, to keep food in thecupboard, the children clothed (Stakeholder Interview, Newcastle).

Much attention has been given to the problems lone parents face in accessing thelabour market, and to their higher poverty rates compared with other household types(Department of Work and Pensions, 2006). In this study, the economic activity ratesamong lone mothers were persistently low and these women formed a much higherproportion of unemployed women in the poorest neighbourhoods than England as awhole (Table II).

Lone parents in England were also more likely to have a LLTI than couple parents.Nineteen per cent of lone fathers and 13 per cent of lone mothers have a LLTI comparewith 10 per cent of fathers and 8 per cent of mothers in couple relationships (Officefor National Statistics, 2006). This suggests that regeneration policies which targetworklessness need to respond more sensitively to the characteristics of local residents.Different interventions and support are required to enable lone parents to access thelabour market, for example, affordable and accessible childcare, than for men andwomen in couple households.

Barriers to labour market engagementFocus group participants discussed the types of constraints they experienced ingaining employment which resulted in pressures and health problems. These includeda qualifications deficit, the limitations of the tax and benefits system and demoralisationabout physically accessing jobs in the locality:

There are so many obstacles in front of you, it can be soul destroying (Focus groupparticipant, Newcastle).

Women have a harder time finding a job. A lot of lone parents don’t understand the systemsset up to help them, and they live hand to mouth (Stakeholder Interview, Birmingham).

A significant feature of people in the study areas was the high percentage of womenand men with no qualifications. This was a particularly issue for people aged 25-49,with over 45 per cent of women in Soho in Birmingham, and Monkchester and Walkerin Newcastle in this age group having no qualifications. This proportion was doublethe national rate:

You’ve got to be skilled, you’ve got to have lots of qualifications. You can’t get experience untilyou get qualifications. It’s a vicious circle (Focus group participant, Newcastle).

Data for England show that people with no qualifications in this age group aremuch more likely to have a LLTI. In all, 21 per cent of women and 22 per cent ofmen aged 25-49 with no qualifications have a LLTI compared with just 6 per cent ofmen and women with a degree (Office for National Statistics, 2006). In Newcastle,34 per cent of men and 21 per cent of women aged 25-49 with no qualificationshave a LLTI (compared with just 9 per cent of men and 7 per cent of women with adegree) and in Birmingham the corresponding figures were 24 per cent for men and21 per cent for women (compared with just 7 per cent of men and 8 per cent of womenwith a degree).

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Women from some ethnic minority groups face additional barriers trying to accessthe labour market. Amongst economically active women (women who are inemployment, unemployed or are full-time students), Bangladeshi and Pakistani womenwere significantly more likely to be unemployed than women from other ethnic groupsacross England as a whole. This was particularly marked at the local level where 31per cent of Pakistani and 22 per cent of Bangladeshi women in Ladywood wereunemployed compared with 8 per cent of economically active White British women:

They are often excluded, even within the local community. They are unaware of what isrequired and what is needed to prevent further isolation (Stakeholder interview, Birmingham).

DiscussionThe research demonstrates how the lives of many people living in regeneration areas areblighted by poor health. Causes of ill health resulting in long term illness often relate toprevious occupations in traditional industries and tend to be more visibly seen amongmen. A broader interpretation of ill health, which includes poor mental health, amongeconomically inactive people who tend to be women is largely hidden from many policyagendas. This suggests that further work is required to ensure that analysis ofregeneration strategies includes a stronger understanding of the health needs of differentgroups of local residents and their employment potential. Some of the focus groupparticipants suggested ways in which health and well-being could improve throughimproved access to employment opportunities, supported by community based services.

It was felt that the diverse skills of workless women could be translated into paidemployment, but that many women lacked the support and resources to move into thelabour market. Many suggested that employment advice had to improve, to enablewomen in the area to understand their entitlements and how engaging in propertraining and well paid employment should be better linked to regeneration investment.Based on their experience of listening to women, local agencies concluded that initialwork engaging women who are not economically active in training and educationinitiatives, was sometimes more effective in community settings such as family centreswhere a combination of local services are more easily accessible and responsive todifferent women’s needs:

Standard services just don’t help them, because if someone has complex needs and is severelydepressed, they don’t want to talk to several agencies about the detail (Stakeholder interview,Newcastle).

It’s really a mentoring service aimed at giving people confidence to help themselves(Stakeholder, Newcastle).

The local dimension of labour markets was also found to be important for those livingin the two neighbourhoods, indicating that in deprived areas understanding patternsof mobility, childcare services and the location of workplaces is especially relevant.Our qualitative assessments of local regeneration schemes revealed a lack of genderedanalysis in labour market activation initiatives. Women living in the two neighbourhoodsfelt that there were few high-quality jobs available to them and that local employersdid not understand their need to work flexibly and in close proximity to their homeand schools.

ConclusionsThe research illustrates how improvements in health and well-being in regenerationareas depend on improving the labour market engagement, and subsequent

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improvements in income, of women. Several themes emerge from the women living inregeneration areas including feelings of low self-esteem arising from failed attempts toengage with the labour market and specific constraints on improving well-being, whichincluded lack of suitable types of jobs, low expectations from welfare services and lackof systematic and long term support. The lack of a gendered analysis in the policyframework limits the effectiveness of attempts to regenerate these neighbourhoods.

By exploring issues of economic inactivity, employability and ill health amongwomen living in regeneration areas, the findings indicate that contemporary policiesseeking to address problems of persistent worklessness require an holistic approach toregeneration investment. This needs to consider the types and quality of accessible jobopportunities for women. Neighbourhood interventions to improve health and well-being should reflect specific areas of concern to residents and reflect responses whichin addition to a gender analysis, take into account social characteristics such as age,ethnicity and household needs.

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Further reading

Escott, K. (2007), From Getting by to Getting On: Women’s Employment and Local RegenerationProgrammes, Oxfam/Renew Northwest, Liverpool.

About the authors

Karen Escott is the academic leader for the Planning and Regeneration team at Sheffield HallamUniversity. A town planner by training, Karen’s work is underpinned by her research on locallabour markets, gender and public management. Earlier in her career, Karen worked for theCentre for Public Services (1989-2002), Sheffield City Council’s Department of Employment andEconomic Development (1982-1989), and at Middlesex University (1978-1982). Karen Escott isthe corresponding author and can be contacted at: k.escott@shu.ac.uk

Lisa Buckner joined the University of Leeds in 2006 as a Senior Research Fellow. Herspecialist areas are the analysis of large and complex data sets, and the use of official statisticsand surveys for policy-applied research. Before coming to Leeds, she was at the Centre for SocialInclusion and CRESR at Sheffield Hallam University and has also previously worked in localgovernment and on the development of the 2001 Census at the Office for National Statistics.

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.comOr visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

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