Making the links - social networks, ethnicity and poverty

JRF/EDF Research Network11th November 2013

Local-Level.org.uk

Purpose of research projectTo investigate the links between social networks,

ethnicity and poverty• How are networks established and maintained?• How do they affect people’s experience of poverty? • How do people use networks to move out of poverty ?• What other factors come into play? – education, affordable credit, housing, cultures and racial

discrimination?

Definitions• Poverty: having insufficient income and assets to

fully participate in the norms of social and economic life

• Ethnicity: broadly defined – race, culture, faith, origin/nationality, heritage….

• Social networks: the connections and interactions with others that support participation, cooperation, trust, social identity and community action

• Social capital: ‘Networks together with shared norms, values that facilitate co-operation within and between groups’ (OECD)

Research methods• Birmingham, Liverpool and Cumbria• Recruitment and training of 8

community researchers• 91 interviews with community

members • 28 agency interviews• 4 scoping meetings with communities• 3 social media workshops• Observation sessions and visits• Literature review• 3 community feedback workshops and

1 policy seminar

How people benefit from networks

• Emergency help• Finding jobs, recruiting staff• Getting accommodation• Sharing children’s clothes,

toys• Access to affordable food • Short-term loans• Skills exchange – brokering

and bartering • Emotional support/comfort

• Business promotion• Supply chains and potential

markets• Access to expert advice and

trades people (cheap or free)

• Savings and loans for investment

• Role models and mentoring• Help with interpretation of

official documents

Barriers and limitations• Social and institutional biases• Racism; access to influential networks• Xenophobia – feeling rebuffed or uncomfortable• Language – vitality of English – and legal status• Community, individual disadvantages• Cost of networking (travel, gifts, socialising)• Lack of time and energy – shifts, childcare, etc.• Lack of confidence, self esteem• Tendency to stay within own community – lack of

access to well-paid jobs and good opportunities • Peer and family pressures, family responsibilities• Family ties cost money – dowries, remittances, visits

Motivation and methods for networking

• Strategies for finding the ‘right’ (useful) people

• Being pro-active in keeping networks open and growing

• Maintaining profile and credibility• Getting and checking reliable information • Providing a comfort zone, a ‘safe place’• Enjoyment and affection

Different values and expectations• Individualist

o Entrepreneurial approach

o Not waiting for things to happen

o Self-helpo Self-sufficiency o Keep other community

members at a distanceo Localised reciprocity

• Collectivisto Orientation towards

family and communityo Expectation of automatic

help in times of hardshipo Informal systems for

lending and borrowing money

o Religious dutieso Strategy for survival in

harsh conditions

Gender and generational differences

• Impact of having children (but children as ‘assets to invest in’)

• Cost of childcare/other care responsibilities• Cultural restrictions on women• Expectations change across generations and

waves of ‘settlement’• Access to (and familiarity with) information

technology

Rural context• Scattered BME populations: isolation, stress• Lack of ‘critical mass’ for organising ethnic

specific community activities• Predominance of (small) multi-ethnic groups• Costs of travel to networking events• Poor access to broadband• Low pay, low aspirations for some• People tend to stay close to families

Social media and the internet• Increasing use of online information and applications• Dedicated information and advice websites• Facebook with pages for private and ‘ethnic’ community

networking • Twitter, email lists, Skype, QQ , Nasra Klasa, Facetime,

YouTube• E-bay and online trading – Made in Cumbria, R&J store –

Filipino goods • Age, class and network awareness• Digital disadvantage (rather than a clear ‘digital divide’) • Language barriers

Agency perspectives• Importance of

o One to one advice (benefits, business etc)o Trust, reliability and ‘reach’o Access to affordable financial productso Financial literacy education (money management/debt

and savings)o Education (but NB parental attitudes)o Pre-network ‘mentoring’o Access to ‘vertical’ networkso ‘Outwith’ immediate community networkso The cuts as ‘network disruption’

Main findings• Importance of voluntary, community and faith groups• The complexity of negotiating systems and the culture of

those systems• Links between networks and informal employment

processes: ‘like with like’ networks can mean access to (low paid) employment

• Inclusive and exclusive aspects of networks• Networks mitigate poverty but are not the only (or most

important?) factor in moving out of poverty • Other factors – access to funds and assets, education,

language skills, discrimination, fiscal policy, impact of welfare reform

• Agencies/service providers do not systematically ‘use’ peoples networks in the advice/support process

Key issues• Stereotypes of communities: independent and successful…

dependent and unsuccessful• Cultural characteristics of networks: ethnic, class or

personality differences and family histories• Networks in context: structure of labour market, fiscal and

related policies• Deep versus broad networks (bonding and bridging capital)• Impact of ‘network disruption’: divorce, loss of long term

employment/workplace; moving home• Utility and/or trust? Reliability and emotion/commitment in

network• Transaction costs and benefits of network membership• In work poverty

Recommendations • Access to face to face advice• ESOL: addressing language barriers and space for cross-

cultural networking• Promoting digital fluency: social media use that is ‘not only

social’• Volunteer opportunities as a way into employment• Mentoring and peer support• Role of community based organisations: commissioning for

‘social value’• Opportunities for developing ‘bridging’ networks

Questions• What role can social networks play in

helping people move out of poverty? • How can people be supported to

make more use of their networks to improve their situations?

• Who needs to act to help this to happen, and what do they need to do? Community and voluntary sector groups Employment services: Jobcentre Plus,

Work Programme providers, local authority services, private and voluntary sector services

Others?

Thank you!Thank you!For further information or

discussion please contact Angus McCabe

• a.j.mccabe@bham.ac.uk • 0121 415 8561

Research Team• Angus McCabe

Third Sector Research Centre

• Alison GilchristIndependent Consultant

• Asif AfridiBRAP

• Paul KyprianouPraxis CIC

• Kevin HarrisLocal Level