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Some 9 million UK adults have been turned down for 10 or more jobs in the past year, as a new report warns of a growing rejection cycle that is damaging confidence, mental health and long-term employment prospects.
The findings come from Christians Against Poverty (CAP), a debt advice charity, and draws on national polling of 2,111 adults and focus groups with jobseekers.
The report paints a picture of a labour market that many feel locked out of.
One job club member described the experience bluntly: “You try and try and then no answer. You’re back to square one. It feels like a circle that never ends.”
In the foreword, CAP’s Chief Executive Stewart McCulloch reflects on the central place work holds in people’s lives.
“In the UK, the average adult will spend just less than 50 years of their life working,” he writes. “Work (paid and unpaid) holds inherent value: it gives people a sense of meaning, dignity and identity.”
But he adds a stark warning: “We also acknowledge that full-time paid employment is not always an option, and not always the golden road to better times.”
CAP says it has seen “the growth of structural worklessness and an equally structural layer of society in low-paid, insecure, part-time work,” with millions trapped between unemployment and unstable employment.
The report lands at a time when 1.84 million people are officially unemployed and 1.7 million people obtaining Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance are subject to work-search requirements.
Under the current system, many claimants are expected to spend up to 35 hours a week searching for work. One jobseeker told researchers: “I’m expected to spend 35 hours a week looking for work. To sit at a computer all that time is unreasonable and impractical … I really want to see my work coach more, but I struggle to get appointments.”
CAP’s report argues that employment policy must move away from viewing people as simply “employed” or “unemployed,” and instead recognise employment as “a spectrum shaped by the quality, security and sustainability of work.”
The report contains worrying indicators about confidence and mental wellbeing.
Around a quarter (24%) of adults not currently in work say lack of confidence and self-esteem has made it harder to find a job, while 49% of unemployed people report being jobless is negatively affecting their mental health.
One in 10 believe they do not have the required skills to secure a role while 14% feel they lack sufficient experience.
While political debate often focuses on getting people to return to work, CAP argues that the deeper challenge lies in the complex barriers jobseekers face – from health and disability conditions and caring responsibilities to technological advancements, digital exclusion, environmental obstacles and insecure job markets.
“Mental and physical ill-health are now major drivers of economic inactivity,” the report states, noting that job searching itself can “worsen anxiety and stress, and lower confidence.”
For Amy, the statistics reflect lived reality. After losing her nursery job, she was left surviving on £500 a month from Universal Credit while covering rent, Council Tax and utilities.
“Losing my job had completely destroyed my self-worth,” she said. “I was left paying high bills all on just £500 a month from Universal Credit. I often went days without eating, as going without food was the only ‘affordable’ thing to cut.”
Amy later joined a CAP job club, which she says helped rebuild her confidence.
She commented: “The CAP Job Club was incredibly welcoming, and it was the first place where people actually saw my strengths. It helped me realise I do have worth and that someone cares about my success.
“The sessions gave me the confidence to apply for jobs again. I now work full-time.”
The report stresses that employment alone is not always the solution. Many jobs are insecure or low-paid, with 18% of workers reporting being in insecure employment and half of full-time workers report experiencing persistent financial anxiety.
CAP argues that “employment does not always lift people out of poverty,” and calls for a focus on sustainable, decent work rather than headline employment figures.
McCulloch concludes that change requires collaboration across sectors: “Employers, government, civil society and those trapped themselves all need to work together to change this. Our economics, politics and social fabric are all being negatively impacted and so change is urgently needed.”
The report calls for a significant expansion of personalised, face-to-face employment support that reflects “individual circumstances and barriers”.
It urges reform of the work coach role so that it focuses more on relational, person-centred guidance rather than compliance-driven processes.
The report also advocates for greater flexibility from employers and more inclusive hiring practices, alongside sustained investment in community-based job support programmes.
Nearly two in five (39%) adults not in full-time work say in-person support would help them move towards employment.
CAP says its church-based job clubs demonstrate that “inclusive, person-centred support and flexible workplaces make a measurable difference.”
