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UnemploymentFor those in well-paid work and owning property, times are good. For those struggling to get a foothold, a stake in a shared society, things can look very different. Falling unemployment in recent years has done much to restore a sense of hope and prosperity to many communities. Yet there’s still so far to go. Employment survey data suggests there may still be upwards of a million and a half Britons out of a job. Many of the unemployed are concentrated in areas of poor housing and high crime, often badly served by what remains of public transport, and sometimes home to mixed populations - clusters of deeply divided racial, cultural and religious communities with little shared sense of belonging, of common citizenship. Where resources are scarce and communities overlap geographically but not socially, the potential for tensions to surface is high. Recent disturbances over asylum seekers follow closely on racial, cultural and religious clashes in a number of cities. It’s perhaps to be hoped that the rise of extremist political parties is not a harbinger of worse to come. There’s a pressing need for far-reaching, effective intervention to ensure that communities are able to make their voices heard within our collective political structures Long-term unemployment: Local responses to long-term unemployment The Home Office on community cohesion: Open University, on possible consequences of social exclusion: The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, on socal need Rise of the National Front in France Statistics about Sheffield (or any area): search at |
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