0260 Visualising the unemployment-to-employment transitions to explore factors influencing return to work in the work programme: results from the supporting older people into employment (sopie) cohort. (21st August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Brown, Judith; McQuaid, Ronald; Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal; Leyland, Alastair; Frank, John; Molaodi, Oarabile R; Macdonald, Ewan B
• Is Part Of: Occupational and environmental medicine. Volume 74(2017)Supplement 1
• Page Start: A80
• Page End: A80
• Publication Date: 2017-08-21
• Subjects: Medicine, Industrial -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; 616.980305
• DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2017-104636.211
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1351-0711

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives: Returning to employment after a period on welfare benefits is particularly challenging for people aged over-50 and those with health conditions. We explore the unemployment-to-employment transitions made by clients engaging with the Work Programme (WP); the UK Government's main return to work (RTW) initiative. It supports two main groups of welfare benefit claimants - JSA, for people who are unemployed but capable of work; ESA, for people with a disability that makes it more difficult to work. Methods: The data were from the SOPIE cohort (13 461 unemployed clients aged 18–64, who entered the WP in Scotland between April 2013 and July 2014). For clients who started a job, unemployment and employment spells during their two-year period in the WP were determined and sequence index plots produced using Stata version 14. These visualisations were explored by age and benefit type. Results: Job start rates were: 'JSA clients under-50', 65%; 'JSA clients over-50', 49%; 'ESA clients under-50', 23%; 'ESA clients over-50', 14%. Despite the lower numbers of ESA clients with a job start the visualisations revealed that these clients (both under and over-50) were as likely to sustain employment as JSA clients. Analyses also investigated employment by Standard Occupational Classification and full versus part-time. Conclusions: Visualising longitudinal employment data provides new insight into the relationship between age, health and the RTW process. Although people receiving health-related benefits (ESA) enter employment at lower rates, they can sustain employment similarly to JSA clients, suggesting support for policies aiming to reduce the disability employment gap.