Building Bridges: Busting poverty myths & highlighting inclusive practice in education, training and employment
ATD Ireland are proud to launch out new report ‘Building Bridges: Busting Poverty Myths & Highlighting Inclusive Practice in Education, Training and Employment”. Click here or the picture below to read the full report.
Building Bridges: Busting Poverty Myths and Highlighting Inclusive Practice in Education, Training and Employment
The purpose of this project is to highlight inclusive practices that truly support people in poverty to access education and employment. While doing this, it also seeks to tackle some of the misconceptions facing people who are unemployed or facing socio-economic hardship. The key inclusive practices identified, through discussions with people with lived experience of poverty and those working within the system, include an expansion of alternative pathways to education and employment (a societal revaluing), a focus on early intervention, a greater investment in one-on-one support and advertising and outreach.
“I left school at 13 (…) No one supported me to stay at school”
“I’ve worked with people who know about those myths, who’ve been told that they’re scroungers. So, I would say another thing is to try and do something about the myths and change people’s understanding of poverty”
“Lots of people are looking for work, lots of people are not having any joy, lots of people are not hearing back from potential employers and then that whole thing about if you didn’t find a job already, maybe we don’t want to know you”
“I started to tell people — “In the summer, I don’t get paid. I have to sign on. So does my husband.” And I decided I don’t care what people’s reactions are anymore. I don’t care if their face drops, or if someone asks, “How are you getting a housing allowance?”
This project builds on our Breaking Barriers report and Community Conversation Film by continuing to argue for the inclusion of socio- economic status as a protected ground in Irish equality legislation.
