The job market is strong, but some people still face issues getting hired. Staffing firm Express Employment Professionals listed seven barriers to employment in a new white paper report with transportation and child care among the top barriers.

Deb Gray, an Express owner in the Pittsburgh area, estimated half of the time applicants turn down jobs is because of transportation issues.

The full list of barriers include:

1. Transportation
2. Child care
3. Elder care
4. Job training
5. Drug use and drug testing
6. Criminal record
7. Communications issues

“In a growing economy, it can be easy to forget about those who are unemployed,” said Bob Funk, CEO of Express and a former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. “People can be too quick to assume that with jobs available, anyone who doesn’t have a job doesn’t want one. Like everyone, they want to work, but there are barriers that stand between them and a regular paycheck.”

Transportation is one example in the report of an issue that can stymie those looking for employment. In some cases, there is available work, but the job seeker does not have a car and the workplace is not accessible by public transportation. One Express office bought a bicycle to help one worker get to work, another paid for auto repairs. Yet another utilized ridesharing companies.

Child care and elder care are also serious issues. A worker can go to work and incur a hefty bill or stay at home and have limited resources. Infant childcare can cost $10,000 per year on average. Making things worse, some school districts in the country are transitioning to four-day weeks.

“We have recently seen a trend in men not taking jobs or losing jobs due to child care issues,” said Ronnie Morris, an Express owner in western Tennessee. “We have always had women lose jobs over this issue, but just recently we are seeing more men facing the same predicament.”

Job training is another of the issues — many workers lack not only the required skills but also lack the money, access or time to get into the proper training program. A survey by Express found that firms cannot fill jobs 22% of the time because of lack of applicants with hard skills. Soft skills are also a concern with 13% of firms saying jobs are open because of a lack of applicants with soft skills such as leadership, creativity, adaptability and attitude.

The full white paper is available online.