THE SURVEY

The survey covered men aged 25–64 who were economically inactive or at the time of the survey had been unemployed for most or all of the preceding six months. It also covered part-time workers on the basis that this type of work is non-traditional for men. Taken as a whole, this is the group which we refer to as the ‘detached male workforce’.

The survey was carried out in seven localities:

1. Barnsley, in the heart of the former Yorkshire coalfield, an area badly affected by industrial job losses in the 1980s and 1990s. This metropolitan borough has a population of 230,000, comprising Barnsley town and surrounding mining villages;

2. Chesterfeild, in Derbyshire, which shares some of the industrial job losses found in Barnsley but has a more diverse and resilient economic base. Chesterfield borough has a population of 100,000, mostly in the town itself;

3. Northampton, a county town in the Midlands just seventy miles from London, which enjoyed expansion as a result of new town status and which has a relatively buoyant local economy. Northampton has a population of 190,000;

4. west Cumbria, as an example of a rural area with a declining industrial base;

5. north Yorkshire, as an example of an upland rural area (the survey area was within the north Yorks moors);

6. north Norfolk, as an example of a rural economy with an important seaside/tourist component;

7. south Shropshire, as an example of a lowland rural area.

The locations of the survey areas are shown in fig. A.1.