News – Blog
How to guarantee a rapid recovery post-pandemic
22 September 2021
We collaborated with The Social Market Foundation to gather key thoughts on improving access to employment and finances, for both innovators and the government.
Over the past few months, the team at The Social Market Foundation has been researching topics and issues related to the problem areas that the Rapid Recovery Challenge has aimed to address – access to employment and access to finance for those most impacted by COVID-19. The goal is to make a series of informed recommendations directed at future innovators in this field; be they in government, business, civil society or elsewhere.
Research undertaken by The SMF has included engaging expert stakeholders through roundtable discussions, interviewing the Rapid Recovery Challenge innovators and funders, secondary research and wider reading.
Running a challenge prize gives Challenge Works and our partners the opportunity to work with the most forward thinking innovators in a particular area, giving us an opportunity to identify learning and best practice that can inform the wider ecosystem.
We think that there is much to be learned from the challenge prize process and our innovators and the SMF report illustrates this well. We are excited to feed into the wider understanding of this problem area and hope that this report contributes to more effective and empathetic solutions for access to jobs and money for the most vulnerable in society being developed into the future.
Below, is a summary of the key learnings from the SMF report, as well as recommendations for policy makers.
Key learnings for those looking to innovate
-
1. To improve employment prospects and financial resilience, individuals need access to solutions that are personalised and rapidly available
Evidence suggests that tailored, swift support leads to improved outcomes and is often cost-effective, reducing the economic scarring associated with long-term unemployment and reducing the risk of individuals falling into further financial distress.
-
2. Digital solutions should be used to improve jobs and financial support
Some innovations cited in this briefing note (drawn from the Rapid Recovery Challenge) include:
- Digital “nudges” to help individuals reach their financial goals.
- Online job boards targeting groups poorly served by more generic websites, such as those with disabilities and those seeking a first job.
- Online crowdfunding to help homeless individuals gain skills and employment.
- Support delivered through online messenger services.
- Utilising open banking to improve take-up rates for grants and speed up application times.
-
3. Digital solutions need to be blended with face-to-face and over-the-phone support in order to have impact at scale
This is particularly important when engaging with vulnerable groups, such as the digitally excluded and the homeless.
-
4. To achieve scale, solution providers need to form effective referral partnerships
For example, with central and local government and businesses operating in sectors such as energy and banking. These organisations have regular contact with individuals facing unemployment and financial fragility, and are well-placed to steer people towards support.
Key recommendations for government
-
1. Government needs to act as a “systems operator” in the support landscape…
creating a platform for services to develop, integrate and feed into each other. Currently, there is a lack of “joined up thinking” when it comes to bolstering financial resilience and improving access to the jobs market.
Often, it is difficult for people to navigate a landscape with numerous service providers, and excessive duplication can undermine attempts to scale up.
-
2. Regulators need to enshrine “consumer duties” in markets such as energy and telecoms…
building on the approach recently proposed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A Consumer Duty for public services should also be considered, similar to that recently introduced in Scotland. The FCA’s proposed Consumer Duty would require organisations to “enable customers to pursue their financial objectives”, compelling firms to do more to support the financial resilience of customers. This could include partnerships between organisations providing employment and financial support.
-
3. The Office for National Statistics should develop improved, regular measures of household finances…
to support innovators developing solutions to improve financial resilience. These metrics should be developed in partnership with the Financial Conduct Authority and Money and Pensions Service. We would expect these statistics to be reported on at least a quarterly basis, including data such as household saving rates, trends in income and measures of financial distress, such as falling into arrears and utilising high-cost short-term credit.
If any of these recommendations have piqued your interest, or got you thinking, you can download the full report here.
If you’d like to explore any of these themes further with the Challenge Works team, don’t hesitate to get in touch.