The Young Foundation was commissioned by Birmingham City Council and Local Government Improvement and Development to look at worklessness and what makes some employability schemes successful and others less so.

The research took a new perspective - using in depth interviews and ‘day in the life of' studies to look at employability from the point of view of the individual rather than the service provider.

Much was already known about worklessness and though many ‘employability schemes' (by which we mean targeted support to help people back to work) had been evaluated, practitioners reported that they didn't fully understand why some individuals disengage from such schemes before finding employment.

The research was an investment in building a better picture of the underlying issues in order to develop a range of new options for service delivery. This is particularly important in the current context with public sector budgets set to reduce rapidly in the next few years. The findings from this study are being shared with providers to help them target their efforts effectively for different client groups. It is helping Birmingham City Council understand different responses to employability support from the people engaged in these programmes.

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Read the accompanying report.