Elaine Batty

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Policymakers in liberal welfare states like the UK have prioritised extending the reach of compulsory activation to target vulnerable jobseeker groups, such as lone parents. However, such interventions – especially when combined with intensified welfare conditionality – appear to have had limited positive effects on lone parents’ employability, while often negatively impacting wellbeing. This article argues that the problem is a disconnect between the complex barriers to employability faced by lone parents (including their need to balance work and caring) and the content of ‘work-first’ activation favoured by successive UK Governments. We report positive findings from in-depth interviews with lone parents and key stakeholders involved in more person-centred, non-compulsory local employability services. Multi-agency service delivery, collaborative governance and a clear role for user voice in programme design were important facilitators of positive experiences. Our analysis points to the need for services that empower lone parents to make choices to progress towards employment while supporting family life.

This article deploys the concept of “collaborative innovation” to discuss key stakeholders’ and service users' experiences of innovative labor market inclusion services. We draw on work by Sørensen and Torfing (2011, 2016, 2017) to frame collaborative innovation as a distinctive approach to the coproduction of services that respond to user needs, and highlight the importance of governance and leadership practices that foster mutual learning and boundary spanning innovation. The article reports on 102 interviews with service users (in this case, unemployed lone parents) and 117 interviews with key stakeholders involved in local partnerships. We identify benefits from such collaborative approaches in terms of innovative service design and positive outcomes for service users. We conclude that policy makers should consider the potential added value of collaborative innovation in labor market inclusion.

People, Place and Policy, Early View, 1-7 First published: 6 November 2019 DOI: 10.3351/ppp.2019.3479427335 Introduction In this paper we provide a

The emotional dilemmas and challenges facing researchers within the research process are beginning to be documented within the literature, and academic interest in them is in ascendency. This paper adds to this growing discourse by taking a reflective journey through 19 years of research practice. It presents an honest and revealing manuscript highlighting in particular, the researcher’s emotional dilemmas experienced when disengaging from participants at the end of longitudinal research studies. It uses case studies to highlight some of the challenges in maintaining the participant–researcher boundaries and the emotional dilemmas this creates when trying to say goodbye. It argues that blurring the boundaries of participant–researcher relationships and establishing a trusting relationship can present emotional difficulties for researchers during and long after the closure of a research study.