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Policy makers in the UK and beyond have sought to promote interventions to encourage social capital-building among disadvantaged groups. One specific concern is that those with limited access to social capital/relationships will be at greater risk of experiencing both unemployment and poverty. By analysing longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), we seek to identify significant relationships between risks of poverty and job loss, and different measures of 'sociability'/social isolation. Crucially, we discuss if and how measures of sociability/social isolation are associated with job seekers' varying chances of exiting and re-entering work. These issues are important because if sociability impacts on unemployment risk, and/or reduces re-employment chances, then policy makers need to understand these inter-connected cycles of social and labour market exclusion in order to develop effective interventions to improve job seekers' employability and combat poverty. Following an analysis of BHPS data, we identify lessons for policy for combatting long-term unemployment and promoting social inclusion.

Published abstract.

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