Introduction

In exchange for their receipt of conditional benefits such as Jobseeker's Allowance and Universal Credit, people experiencing homelessness are expected to engage in mandatory job search or other work-related activities. Failure to do this leaves them vulnerable to having their social security entitlements withdrawn (Johnsen et al, 2014; Batty et al, 2015). However, many homeless people have become alienated from mainstream employment support provided by Jobcentre Plus as a result of difficulties in meeting these compulsory conditions (Crisis et al, 2012). Recognising homeless people's exclusion from the mainstream welfare system, this chapter focuses on an alternative source of employment support offered by third sector homelessness organisations.

After considering the existing evidence base relating to homeless people's experiences of conditional welfare and the role the third sector plays in offering employment-related support services, the chapter presents findings from semi-structured interviews with 27 practitioners sampled from third sector homelessness organisations operating in the Greater Manchester area. Drawing on new data, it provides an overview of the range of employment-related support currently available to homeless people accessing support from third sector providers.

The chapter then considers two key potentially contradictory issues that emerged from the analysis. First, while it is possible to identify a range of employment-related support services delivered by third sector organisations’ own programmes and initiatives, much of this appears to be focused on mitigating the impacts of the increasingly conditional nature of the statutory welfare system. Second, while appearing critical of the increasingly conditional statutory system and the impacts that a punitive welfare state is having on the homeless people they are seeking to support, some of the approaches adopted by third sector agencies also incorporate elements of conditionality, albeit to varying degrees.

Homelessness, work and welfare

Moving homeless adults into paid work is increasingly considered an important part of helping them to overcome their homelessness and sustain an ‘independent’ life off the streets (Warnes and Crane, 2000; McNaughton, 2008). Responding to recent rises in rough sleeping in UK cities, Prime Minister Theresa May emphasised employment as a long-term solution: