Housing works : assessing the impact of housing association employment support

Wilding, MA; Jones, K; Martin, P; Scullion, LC

Abstract

Social housing providers in the UK have a long history of delivering support to their residents beyond housing, including providing employment related assistance. A small but growing area of research investigates the role of employment support outside the mainstream welfare system. However, little is known about the support provided, the impact it has on individuals’ prospects in the labour market, and related outcomes for housing providers, the taxpayer and wider society. As increasing numbers of people are expected to engage in work search and other work preparation activities in exchange for continued receipt of welfare benefits, the impact of housing provider employment support needs to be better understood.

The membership of Give us a Chance (GUAC) have, as housing associations, been involved in a range of initiatives to improve the employment and life chance outcomes of their residents, including working with employment support organisations and the voluntary
and community sector. However, there is considerable variation in the way that housing association employment support is currently provided, and a wide range of tools and measures are used to show the value of these initiatives, from specific organisational measures through to more generic approaches, such as the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust (HACT) measures and the New Economy Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) model. Hence, it is often difficult to compare the value of projects based on different approaches and measured using different tools.

This research had two key aims: to contribute to an understanding of what helps people to move closer to, enter or sustain employment and to demonstrate the value of housing association investment in employment related support for residents. The project had the following linked objectives:

1. Provide a review of housing association employment related
support activity;
2. Undertake a review of the impact measures currently used
for employment related support across the social housing
sector; and
3. Provide an understanding of ‘what works’ in terms of
employment related support and the measures used among
GUAC members.

Citation

Wilding, M., Jones, K., Martin, P., & Scullion, L. (2019). Housing works : assessing the impact of housing association employment support

• Report Type: Project Report
• Online Publication Date: May 20, 2019
• Publication Date: May 20, 2019
• Deposit Date: Oct 30, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 30, 2019
• Publisher URL: https://www.communitiesthatwork.co.uk/library/housing-works-assessing-the-impact-of-housing-association-employment-support/
• Related Public URLs: https://www.communitiesthatwork.co.uk/
• Additional Information: Funders : Give us a Chance: Communities that Work