1.1.5 Solutions to accessing the labour market
The previous page discussed barriers to accessing the labour market. What about the solutions? On this page, we use images to demonstrate how to formulate a solution that is economically inclusive.
On the page, there are three side-by-side images, depicting 2 adults and a child looking out at a beautiful mountain scene. The first image on the left shows the 3 individuals looking at a mountain scene. All the individuals are standing on 1 rock of the same size each, but there is a fence in front of them. For the 2 adults, the rock is sufficient support to be able to see over the fence and view the mountain, although one of the adults is taller than the other and has a better view. But the child is too short to see over the fence. In this case, the fence is a metaphor for the barriers that an individual encounters in accessing the labour market, which is represented by the mountain. The rock depicts the type of approach often taken by service providers, where each individual receives exactly the same type of support, regardless of the barriers they encounter.
The middle image depicts the same 3 individuals standing in front of the fence. But rather than providing each person with 1 rock to stand on, the child receives 3 rocks and the shorter adult receives two rocks. With these additional rocks, each person can see equally over the fence. This is an example of an equitable approach, which is a term that is central to economic inclusion. An equitable approach recognises that everyone encounters different barriers to Economic Inclusion and provides a personalised solution to each individual. When we are discussing barriers and solutions to Economic Inclusion throughout the module, we want to strive to promote an equitable approach wherever possible to support job seekers.
The third image depicts the same three individuals but the fence has been removed. This image depicts the long-term goal of Economic Inclusion programming i.e universal access. Nobody has any barriers to accessing the labour market because there is no structural inequality, and therefore there is no need for equitable support. From these, we can conclude that there exist three scenarios:
- Current approach: Provide the same support to all job seekers, regardless of identity and the barriers they face;
- Short-term goal: adapt service provision to provide equitable support,and;
- Long-term goal: inclusive, universally accessible labour markets (no barriers).
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