The crisis has brought a very large diversity of people and groups into long-term unemployment. The term refers to people who have been unemployed for 12 months or more and affected in 2014 more than 12 million workers, or 5% of the active EU population, 62% of whom have been jobless for at least two consecutive years.
There is extensive evidence on its far-reaching negative consequences it causes: from losses of income in the short-run, to lesser opportunities to access a decent job and a decent wage; to worsen mental and physical health and higher mortality rates. Further, parental long term unemployment it also hampers children educational progress and lowers their future earnings.
For the purpose of focusing on some specific groups that are particularly affected in the five participating cities of this project, the search for proven innovations will be centred around three specific groups: older people out for a job for more than 12 months, people with disabilities, refugees and migrants. This does not undermine the ability of some innovations to tackle the challenge for different groups.