ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on some groups suffering particular difficulties in re-entering the world of work; the long-term unemployed and women returning to the labour market after an interruption in economic activity. It discusses disadvantaged in the labour market may suffer from unequal access to programmes, but the long-term unemployed and women ‘returners’ are probably the largest some groups so affected. The socially excluded are left at the back of the queue not only for jobs, but also for access to labour market programmes intended to assist their search for work – this contradicts the equity principles underlying active labour market policy. The short-term unemployed, by contrast, were more likely to participate in training – both general and specific training. The socially excluded tend to be concentrated on the less effective programmes with little hope of progression to more effective training. A common perception in Ireland is that older, long-term unemployed males are at a particular disadvantage in the labour market.