Introduction

The main argument in this chapter is that geography intensifies employment disadvantage, particularly for those who also experience other forms of exclusion and discrimination in the labour market related to, for instance, disability, or age. To evidence this claim, we will be drawing on SEQUAL research carried out in 2003-04 in North West Wales, a remote and largely rural area with a long history of poor employment prospects and significant poverty (Cloke et al, 1997). In many ways, the problems are similar to those of other rural areas in Britain such as South West England and Cumbria, and indeed rural areas in other parts of Europe. However, there are also specific employment issues that will also be considered here, arising from the distinct linguistic and cultural identity of North Wales.

A focus on location is important because social exclusion, marginalisation and disadvantage operate in different ways in different geographical areas (Lupton, 2003; Green and Owen, 2006) and rural areas in particular have characteristics affecting their local labour markets that are very different to those that prevail in most urban centres. Green and Owen (2006) demonstrate that geographical location often has an adverse effect on employment prospects with residents of inner cities and areas with a mining and industrial heritage faring the worst. The problems of employment and social exclusion in rural areas such as North West Wales are less visible statistically because of relatively small numbers, and physically because social deprivation occurs in pockets between more prosperous areas. They are nevertheless deserving of attention. In this chapter we will look particularly at the experiences of those living in rural areas in order to assess whether the labour market is indeed ‘open to all’.

Previous researchers (Cloke and Little, 1997; Cloke et al, 1997; Beatty and Fothergill, 1999; Shucksmith, 2000, 2004) looking at experiences of employment and employability in rural areas have used a range of approaches in examining the linkages between employment and issues of social exclusion and disadvantage. These have included a structure– agency approach, more culturally based analyses and the construction of statistical indicators of multiple deprivations in rural areas.