Family joblessness Opportunities to promote pathways to education and employment Kate Furst & Paul Harkin…

Family joblessnessOpportunities to promote pathways to education and employment

Kate Furst & Paul HarkinThe Benevolent Society

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Who we areWe are Australia’s first charity We are an independent, non-religious organisation established in 1813We have been a catalyst for social change for 200 years, tackling some of Australia’s most difficult issues

eg. Lobbying to abolish child labour campaigning and for the introduction of the old age pension

Through our work we help people to change their livesThrough our advocacy work we influence policy to fight for a fairer Australia

Who are jobless families?

• 641,000 families dependent on income support at February 2012

• 259,000 or 40% are jobless families(no earnings for > 1 year)

• 219,000 (85%) are sole parents• 50% have a youngest child aged under 6 and have no

requirement to seek work• Likely to be living in an urban area of locational disadvantage• Likely not to have completed Year 12 or equivalent• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children are 3 times as likely

as non-Indigenous children to be living in a jobless family.

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Impact on children’s wellbeing

• 12 – 15% of Australian children living in poverty (UNICEF, 2008)

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Unemployment & the wellbeing of children

• Living in a jobless family is estimated to increase the probability that a child will have behavioural or emotional problems by 13% compared to living in a family with one or more employed parents.

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Barriers to employment

Internal barriers

• Poor education• Disability• Domestic violence• Social isolation• Housing instability

External barriers

• Local economy• Lack of affordable child care• Transport – availability / cost• Financial disincentives• Suitable jobs

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• Reduce barriers to pathways by addressing issues such as social isolation, domestic violence

• Engage families via child & family services • Collaborate with integrated & co-located services;

dedicated jobless family programs if available• Improve the education & employability skills of

mothers by lifting the literacy and numeracy levels, life coaching/mentoring

• Directly employ jobless parents or offer work experience

Opportunities for child & family services

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Opportunities for government

• Increase investment in programs which specifically target internal barriers to employment

• Increase invesment in programs for jobless families

• Provide individualised case management• Reduce caseloads in employment and training

services • Provide access to quality jobs• Ensure access to affordable child care• Remove disincentives to work • Invest in research and evaluation

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Campbelltown Communities for Children

• place-based, early intervention model for families with children under 12 years

• works with two communities – Rosemeadow and Ambarvale

• community consultations, evidence and best practice culminating in a community plan

• brokered approach• strong focus on collaboration, coordination and

capacity building• role to support parents affected by parenting

payment reform

A Campbelltown example . . .

Barriers:• Childcare & transport• Lack of skills, literacy issues• Suitable local employment• Self-confidence, anxiety,

depression• Isolation – who helps out in a

crisis?• Fear’s about children’s

behaviour

Communities for Children

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What works for us?

Soft entry points leading to . . .

• relationship building with families• relationships with “hard to reach”• ‘warm’ assessment of need• good referrals out

• good collaboration and coordination

• relationships with JSAs/DES’• service sector/community

responses

Should also involve . . .

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What sits behind that?

• strong/shared assessment and referral among services

• strong collaborative networks

• staff with the skills and knowledge

• good relationships with employment service providers

Thank you

For more information & to download the full report, visit www.benevolent.org.au