Since COVID, 850,000 people in the UK withdrew from the active labour market. This massive rise in economic inactivity has happened at the same time that policy has tightened controls on hiring overseas workers, and the UK’s further and adult education system has been squeezed by budget cuts and inflexibilities (prior to 2026).
I did a deep dive on economic inactivity in a UK region last year as part of my advisory role with Skills Development Scotland – and here’s what I found…
โ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ: ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ถ๐’๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ฒ. ๐๐’๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐. 99% of clients in one employability program I explored had mental health challenges. Most people that have been economically inactive for > 1 year have multiple, interconnected barriers – such as health issues, caring responsibilities, language barriers, unrecognized overseas qualifications, lack of transport.
โ What Actually Works: The person-centered, case-worker approach isn’t just good practice – it’s the ONLY approach that delivers results. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ: ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ด๐ฏ’๐ต ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต.
Three critical insights from practitioners on the ground:
๐ญ. **๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ-๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ก๐ข๐ช.** Many adults can’t afford lengthy formal education. Shorter, intensive, vocational training close to employer needs gets results. 9-5 courses for 52 weeks don’t work for someone managing childcare, health issues, or just trying to keep the lights on. ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ.
๐ฎ. **๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐.** Case workers struggle to navigate options for their clients. If the professionals can’t figure it out, how can we expect a single parent with mental health challenges and limited English to access the right support?
๐ฏ. **๐๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ – ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป’๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐.** Research shows 9 in 10 UK employers SAY everyone should reach their potential. But only 3 in 10 offer development opportunities based on individual need rather than immediate business value.
These are the kinds of insights I’ve built into my new book, and economic development community – check it out at http://www.economicdevelopment.world
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