As described above, just under one in five (17%) younger customers had left FND to enter work but were no longer working by the time of the interview. This also applied to one in ten (ten %) customers aged 25 or over. While these proportions are broadly in line with those seen in Phase 2 comparison areas, it is useful to look at the characteristics of this group to see whether there were any particular customer groups that were more likely to leave FND to enter short-term work. It was clearly much more common for younger people to leave FND for short-term work than for customers aged 25 or over. In fact, of all the customers who had worked at some point but who were not working at the time of interview, roughly half (49%) were aged 18-24 compared with just 31% of all those in work at the time of the interview. Among young people there were no other particular differences by demographics.
Among customers aged 25 or over it was more common for these ‘JSA recyclers’ to have a long- term illness or disability: around one in five (21%) of those who entered work temporarily before returning to JSA were disabled or had a long-term illness compared with one in ten (ten %) of those that remained in work.
Of customers who had left FND to enter work but who had returned to benefits, just over half (52%) reported some contact from the FND provider after starting work. This is broadly in line with the proportion of customers who had remained in work that had received this support (55% – the difference of three percentage points is not statistically significant). Customers who remained in work were more likely to have had a greater number of contacts from the provider since starting work (30% contacted three or more times) compared with those who had left the job and were claiming again (22% contacted three or more times), although this is likely to be – at least in part – a feature of them being in work longer and, therefore, having more opportunity to be contacted.
Customers who had worked at some point but who were not working at the time of the interview were asked how long their spell in work lasted and why they had left the job. Among customers aged 25+ the length of time employed was broadly similar across both Phases. However, younger customers (aged 18-24) differed. In Phase 1 areas they were much more likely to have only been employed for two months or less (35% compared with 19% in Phase 2 areas) while in Phase 2 younger customers were more likely to have worked for six months or more, among the group that had had a break in their claim (35% compared with 21% in Phase 1). Results are shown in Figure 6.4.
Figure 6.4 Duration of employment where entered paid work but no longer in
paid work by time of interview
By far the most common reason for leaving employment was the contract ending (56% in both Phases). Younger customers were more likely to give this reason than older customers and this pattern was consistent across Phases. Around one in ten (11% Phase 1, nine % Phase 2) customers had been made redundant and a slightly smaller proportion (nine % Phase 1, seven % Phase 2) had been dismissed. Around one in twenty customers (five % Phase 1, six % Phase 2) left the employment as the felt they were not earning enough. Other reasons were mentioned by small minorities of customers and there were no notable differences across Phase or by age.
*Indicates a statistically significant difference from Phase 2 at the 95% confidence level. Stage 4 survey: All who have worked at some point since ending their JSA claim
but who were not in work at the time of the interview. Phase 1 (179) Phase 2 (236) 18–24 Percentages 25+ Phase 1 (207) Phase 2 (211) Source: E1.
6 months or more 4 to 6 months 2 to 4 months
1 to 2 months Less than 1 month Don’t know
21* 35 19 25 15 12 13 11 23 25 27 23 21* 8 18 14 14 11 16* 20 5 9 7 7
6.4
Summary
Younger customers (aged 18-24) were more likely to still be claiming a year on from the start of FND compared to their counterparts in the previous regime (NDYP) over the same claim period. Overall, younger people were more likely to be in paid work under the NDYP. However, there were variations found by subgroups. Customers with low or no qualifications, and those with a long-term illness or disability, were just as likely to be in paid work in Phase 1 areas as in Phase 2 areas.
Customers aged 25 or over were equally likely to be in paid work at the time of the interview in FND Phase 1 areas as in Phase 2 comparison areas where the previous regime was still in place. While Phase 1 customers were slightly more likely to be claiming JSA at the time of interview, higher proportions were claiming other out-of-work benefits (or in the process of setting up a new JSA claim) in Phase 2 areas. Claim rates for out-of-work benefits were, therefore, broadly even for customer aged 25 or over across the two Phases.
It was much more common for younger people to leave FND for short-term work before returning to JSA (‘JSA recyclers’) than for customers aged 25 or over. Half of all customers that had worked at some point but who were not working at the time of interview were aged 18-24, compared to just under a third of those who had remained in work. Young people who were re-claiming tended to have a shorter spell in work in FND Phase 1 areas compared with Phase 2 areas.