How community education can pave the way out of economic inactivity

A public policy challenge that has vexed Governments in the UK, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for many years is ‘economic inactivity’ – referring to the numbers of people who are not in work and who are not actively seeking work.

People of working age can be economically inactive for a wide range of reasons – long term sickness, disability, poor transport links and expensive childcare, exacerbated by outdated employer attitudes and inflexible workplace policies.

Economic inactivity has historically been much higher in NI than in other UK regions. (Devlin, 2022)

Current rates in NI stand at 23.3%, compared with 21.1% in the UK, and 16.5% in Ireland. Since 2012 rates of inactivity in Ireland have declined mainly due to increasing female participation in the labour market. (Ulster University Economic Policy Centre (UUEPC) and Dublin City University (DCU)) / ONS, 2025).

Studies suggest that effective responses require comprehensive strategies that extend beyond traditional employment initiatives and recognise the crucial role of community-based approaches in enabling individuals to overcome barriers and engage more fully in work.

Lone parents  

One opportunity to support people into work is to recognise the role of community education in enabling lone parents to gain self-confidence, skills and qualifications.

In the UK, one in four families with dependent children is led by a single parent, most of whom are women. (ONS 2024 / CSO 2021)

Households headed by a lone parent with low levels of completed education are among those at greatest risk of long-term unemployment and poverty in Ireland. (ESRI, 2023)

In 2023, the Centre for Effective Services completed two major research projects on the experiences of lone parents* in Ireland and NI. Although these were two separate pieces of research there were many areas of commonality and opportunity for shared learning.

The SOLUS project in Northern Ireland, commissioned by Parenting Focus and funded by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, examined the financial vulnerabilities facing lone parents and the impact this has on their physical and mental health, their children’s health and their approach to parenting. Almost 300 parents – fathers and mothers across NI – participated in the research.  A key factor that impacts on the financial wellbeing of parents, and by extension their health and their children’s health, is access to employment. This can be affected by separation, particularly for resident parents with 2-plus children and/or younger children.

The research identified a range of structural barriers blocking parents’ access to employment:

• Unaffordable, unreliable, and inflexible childcare
• Limited employment options that allow them to combine work and childcare
• Lack of employer understanding or flexibility in relation to single parents’ circumstances or needs
• Challenges accessing Further and Higher Education opportunities to gain work-related qualifications/skills

In parallel, the Beachaire project, funded by the Beachaire Fund and Community Foundation Ireland, explored the power of community education in Ireland to support lone parents to fulfil their potential in education, employment and society. The research drew on the experience of 8 community organisations with a long history of delivering community education programmes to lone parents across Ireland. The study involved over 135 lone parent learner participants and 50 educators.

This research highlights how community education providers are improving employability for lone parents by identifying and responding to skills gaps and local employment opportunities and delivering tailored courses and education programmes accessible in their local areas.

Key findings are that:

• Lone parents who complete community education are highly likely to progress to further and higher education, training, paid employment, and greater active involvement in their community.
• Wraparound support is a known distinctive feature of community education and one of the main success factors for participation, completion, and progression.
• Access to onsite childcare is the single biggest enabler of participation in community education for lone parents.
• Community settings and community education gather useful quantitative and qualitative data to inform education, training, and employment policy and yet use of this data is under resourced and under-utilised.

There is rich evidence here for policymakers – that investment in community education, with its ability to be agile, responsive and locally connected, supported by the provision of affordable, accessible, and flexible childcare, can offer a pathway out of economic inactivity for lone parents.

Access to such education not only offers opportunities for financial stability but potentially has a positive impact on parents’ psychosocial, mental and physical health and the wellbeing of their families.​

You can read more about the Solus research and the Beachaire research at: Supporting and Empowering Lone Parents: A reflection on the Solus and Beachaire research projects.

*We use the term ‘lone parents’ which included single parents and people parenting alone due to separation, divorce or bereavement.