Social exclusion briefing and background
Ex-offenders, people with disabilities and the long-term unemployed often experience social exclusion, a situation that shuts them out of the labour market. Here, we explain the meaning of social exclusion and what is being done to tackle it.
On this page:
Overview
The political attention being given to social exclusion
Social exclusion can involve multiple disadvantages
Young people at risk of social exclusion
The government’s action plan
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KEY POINTS
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Social exclusion describes individuals and groups who cannot participate fully in society. It includes homeless people, people with disabilities, ex-offenders, individuals with mental-health issues and long-term unemployed people.
It often involves multiple disadvantages, such as ill health, unemployment and poor housing. School-leavers who fail to find work are particularly at risk of becoming socially excluded.
The reduction of social exclusion has been one of the Labour government’s priorities since it took office in 1997.
The accompanying articles give more information about employers’ role in combating social exclusion and a case study of the way in which the West Midlands Police has done so.
The political attention being given to social exclusion
“Social exclusion” may be one of the many phrases associated with New Labour, but it describes a real and significant problem for British society. As government minister David Miliband pointed out in a speech in 2005 (PDF format, 845.3K) (on the Cabinet Office website): “Social exclusion is not just about basic conditions … It is about not having power over your life and your future."
Since Labour took office in 1997, it has made clear its intention to address poverty and create opportunities for people in the UK’s most deprived areas. One of the government’s first actions was to set up a Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) as part of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
The unit’s work is now being taken forward by a Social Exclusion Taskforce, which the government set up in June 2006, and based in the Cabinet Office. Commenting at the time of its launch, social exclusion minister Hilary Armstrong said excellent progress had been made since 1997 in lifting many people out of poverty. However, she added: “We see more starkly a small number continuing to experience multiple disadvantage."
Addressing the most deep-rooted causes and symptoms of social exclusion is one of the “key over-arching challenges facing the whole of government”, she said.
Social exclusion can involve multiple disadvantages
The Social Exclusion Taskforce points out that social exclusion is “about more than income poverty". It says that social exclusion happens “when people or places suffer from a series of problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime, ill health and family breakdown. When such problems combine they can create a cycle of disadvantage.”
A 2004 report from the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) found that the likelihood of being out of work increases with the number of disadvantages experienced by an individual. For example, more than 50% of those with three or more labour market disadvantages – such as being aged over 50 or having low qualifications or skills – are unemployed. This compares with just 3% of those without any of these characteristics.
The SEU report says social exclusion has “complex and multi-dimensional causes and consequences”.
The latter part of the 20th century saw worsening trends, particularly in respect of some of the main causes, such as unemployment, and long-term unemployment especially. The strategy put in place by the government from 1997 has placed a strong emphasis on countering the economic causes of social exclusion, especially worklessness and low income.
Miliband’s speech, cited above, announced new government statistics indicating that the number of socially excluded adults had fallen from 4.8 million in 1997 to 3.6 million in 2005, a reduction of a quarter. However, he said that new groups are being affected by exclusion, particularly increasing numbers of single middle-aged men.
The SEU website says that the long-term downward trend in unemployment “has not been matched by a fall in economic inactivity – and that has hardly changed in the past 10 years”. Economic inactivity denotes a lack of participation in the labour market, so that an adult neither has a job nor is actively looking for one.
Young people at risk of social exclusion
An earlier SEU report about employment and young people published in 1999 showed that more than 40% of young people who were out of work at the age of 16 were still without a job by the age of 18. This unemployment disadvantage tends to persist as people get older.
The 1999 SEU report also noted that those at particular risk of unemployment include young people who:
In 2006, the government published an action plan on social exclusion (PDF format, 1.2MB) (on the Cabinet Office website), which sets out the steps it is taking. In view of the complex and multifaceted factors at play, the action plan covers a wide range of public policy initiatives and specific projects to combat social exclusion. The document reflects a more targeted approach, focusing on the most excluded groups in society, who are particularly difficult to reach.
For example, the action plan’s employment-related proposals include the acceleration of measures “to encourage employment for those suffering from more severe mental health problems, including the encouragement of individual placement and support approaches and anti-stigma employer-based campaigns”.
Because responsibility for boosting social inclusion straddles nearly every Whitehall department, it is a recurring theme in a raft of government reforms and consultations. For example, the government’s Health, Work and Wellbeing strategy (PDF format, 240K) (on the DWP website) includes proposals to reduce health inequalities and social exclusion. It wants people with health problems or disabilities to be able to make the most of their work opportunities.
This article was written by Rachel Suff, a freelance employment researcher and writer.
