Barriers to labor market inclusion viewed by socially vulnerable populations (evidence from Northwestern Federal District)

Abstract

The relevance of the study arises from the need to develop new and more effective approaches towards social policies. The author investigates barriers to inclusion of vulnerable groups in the labor market and uses sociological methods to study the opinions of disabled persons, retired persons, multi-child families and young people on social and labor problems in the Northwestern Federal District. Two groups of barriers to active professional activity are singled out (internal and external barriers).External barriers characterize the situation in the labor market (lack of suitable job vacancies, employers’ negative attitudes). Internal barriers refer to personality traits and settings. The internal settings for uselessness to society and lack of support are major obstacles for the disabled and retired persons. As to the other groups, the internal barriers of young persons are underdeveloped professional skills and laziness, whereas parents raising multiple children have weak subjectivity and external locus of control.The inhabitants of the Northwestern Federal District consider persons with disabilities and retired persons to be the most vulnerable groups and have a clear idea about the external barriers to their professional activity exacerbated by their poor personal resources and rejection of social distraction strategies.