Accelerating Change for Social Inclusion project. Call for Proven Innovations addressed to Long-term Unemployed. Definition of the key elements of the social problem and the solutions.

1. Challenge Brief
Generating opportunities for the long-term
unemployed
October 2016
ATHENS
BARCELONA
LISBON
ROTTERDAM
STOCKHOLM
ACCELERATING
CHANGE
FOR SOCIAL
INCLUSION

2. ACCELERATING CHANGE FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION / ACSI
ATHENS / BARCELONA / LISBON / ROTTERDAM / STOCKHOLM
October 2016
Challenge Brief
Generating opportunities for the long-term unemployed
1. Description
According to the OCED, long-term unemployment refers to people who have been unemployed for 12
months or more. There is extensive evidence on its far-reaching negative consequences it causes: from
losses of income in the short-run, to lesser opportunities to access a decent job and a decent wage; to
worsen mental and physical health and higher mortality rates. Further, parental long term unemployment
it also hampers children educational progress and lowers their future earnings.
2. Key data about long-term unemployment
Long-term unemployed rate
EU28: 4,5%
Number of long-term
unemployed aged 15-74 as a
percentage of the active
population of the same age
Greece 18.2 %
Spain 11.4 %
Portugal 7.2 %
Netherlands 3.0 %
Sweden 1.5 %
1
Eurostat 2016
Considerations2
§ Long-term unemployment affected in 2014 more than 12 million workers, or 5% of the active EU
population, 62% of whom have been jobless for at least two consecutive years. A low proportion of
the long-term unemployed (on average 24%) are covered by unemployment benefits.
§ Every year, close to a fifth of the long-term unemployed become discouraged and fall to inactivity
as a result of unsuccessful job search efforts. As barriers to labour market integration are diverse
and often cumulate, labour market integration requires a tailor-made, individualised approach.
Evidence also shows that the longer people are unemployed, the harder it is for them to return to
the labour market.
§ Most of the long-term unemployed live in Europe in cities. Cities are also the level of government
closest to them and have substantial knowledge of the local economy, the labour market and in
integrating services targeted to the diverse needs of their citizens.
3. Target groups
1
Eurostat (2016) http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&plugin=1&pcode=tesem130&language=en
2 Council recommendation: On the integration of the long-term unemployed into the labour market (EU, 2015)

3. ACCELERATING CHANGE FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION / ACSI
ATHENS / BARCELONA / LISBON / ROTTERDAM / STOCKHOLM
The crisis has brought a very large diversity of people and groups into long-term unemployment. For the
purpose of focusing on some specific groups that are particularly affected in the five participating cities,
the search for proven innovations will be centred around three specific groups. This does not undermine
the ability of some innovations to tackle the challenge for different groups.
The three groups of focus are:
a) People out of a job for more than 12 months
Older unemployed have more difficulties adjusting to the conditions and requirements on an
increasingly flexible labour market. Their skills often are in contradiction to the requirements and
needs of employers. Employers often choose younger employees and ignore the level of
competence that older people often have.
b) People with disabilities
People with disabilities, particularly women, face enormous attitudinal, physical and informational
barriers to opportunities in the world of work. Current efforts to stimulate their employment in a
“normal” workplace, and not only in the protected labour market, are still far from providing sufficient
opportunities and usually fail at capitalising on their abilities and skills.
c) Refugees and migrants
Over 80% of all non-EU nationals between 15 and 64 years of age residing in the EU are working as
(or are profiled as) low-skilled or unskilled. Immigrant workers in general are perceived as less well-
educated than native workers and often have to accept worse working conditions. There is little
attention paid to their particular skills they might bring in. Unemployment is a major cause of social
exclusion while employment is a catalyser for social integration for people coming from abroad.
Education levels and language problems form the main reason unemployment apart from
discrimination issues.
4. Levers of change and Action Areas of investigation
Proactiveness and responsibility
Instead of the paternalistic approaches, the project will search for initiatives that face the stigma of
unemployment and frame it as an opportunity to strengthen people’s skills and develop an
entrepreneurial and proactive mindset.
Collective empowerment
Isolation has harmful consequences for long-term unemployed people, as it undermines their drive and
creativity. The project will look into initiatives that free the unemployed from isolation, loneliness,
discouragement and invisibility through collaborative dynamics that generate empowerment and opportunities.
Closing the skills gap in local labour markets
The mismatch between supply and demand of skills keeps growing as unemployment becomes chronic
in many people. Enhancing the links between local businesses and employers, and formal and informal
education providers offers powerful responses to bridge the gap.
Long-term and integrated tailored services and responses
Silver bullets rarely exist in the fight against long-term unemployment. But evidence suggests that long-

4. ACCELERATING CHANGE FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION / ACSI
ATHENS / BARCELONA / LISBON / ROTTERDAM / STOCKHOLM
term approaches that integrate services that respond to the specific needs of the affected people deliver
solid outcomes. Long-term mentoring and assistance seem to offer good solutions but it faces
bottlenecks and might be relatively expensive.
Technology approach
The ICT opens up interesting possibilities in the provision of social services, the use of idle or latent
resources in the cities, and in the prevention and mitigation of impacts of unemployment. Also helps to
scale up initiatives that operate in a short range.
5. Research criteria of innovative solutions
§ Evidence of impact: Innovations that provide a model that positively affects the expected results,
which have generated sufficient evidence of results and are minimally evaluated.
§ Scale: Innovations that have been implemented in more than one location or are prepared for
replication in new contexts because they have a projection model or transfer to other agents.
§ Sustainability model: Innovations with diversified revenue model, optimization of resources or
use of community resources, so that they cannot depend on regular subsidies to sustain their
operations available.
§ Adaptability: Innovations that are not context-specific, but adaptable to different cultural, social
and economic backgrounds. Ideally, these innovations might have been packaged and
implemented outside its original location.
§ ROI: Innovations that generate social impact and a good return of the investment.
§ Worldwide research: Innovations from all over the world, since our proper context (Europe and
North America) until very different context (as Africa, Latin America or Asia).
ACCELERATING CHANGE FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION / ACSI
Catalysing the transfer of successful innovations among European cities.
Project implemented by UpSocial in collaboration with Partner Cities, and with the generous support of
the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and “la Caixa” Foundation.
PARTNER CITIES
Athens, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rotterdam, Stockholm.
More information: www.upsocial.org