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Brink, Barbara & Maarten Bouwmeester (2025): The household as a constraint on social assistance: analysing the household-construct in the Netherlands’ parliamentary history on social assistance. In: The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, Jg. 33, H. 1, S. 71-95. DOI:10.1332/17598273y2024d000000034

Abstract

"The household means test plays an essential role in social assistance schemes worldwide. Consequently, the legal definition of what constitutes a household importantly impacts social outcomes, while also being constantly challenged by the dynamic societal reality of living arrangements. Despite its significance, this ‘household-construct’ has received strikingly little attention among social policy analysts. Our contribution explores this issue through a longitudinal analysis of the household-construct in the Netherlands’ social assistance legislation and parliamentary history. After conceptualising the household means test in view of the literature on targeted and conditional welfare provision, we discuss the importance of demographic developments (diversifying household composition) as a continuous challenge for household means-tested income support. We then provide a longitudinal analysis of the most important legislative changes (and underlying rationales) to the household-notion in the Dutch main social assistance (minimum subsistence) scheme. The results demonstrate that the household means test has gone through considerable alterations over time, largely in response to societal shifts and in recent decades also as an outflow of the welfare conditionality paradigm. At the same time, the fundamental logic of (1) needs-based targeting and (2) needs assessment at the level of household resources (rather than the individual) have remained intact, thereby adhering to the traditional conception of the economic union of marriage and maintenance obligations between partners. The study demonstrates how a systematic examination of legislative documents can provide valuable insights into the complex interrelationships between this specific area of social security policy, the changing social context and social policy paradigms." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2024 PolicyPress) ((en))

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Butler, Peter & Jonathan Payne (2025): Employer Engagement with Third-Sector Activation Programmes for Vulnerable Groups: Interrogating Logics and Roles. In: Journal of Social Policy, Jg. 54, H. 2, S. 632-650. DOI:10.1017/S0047279423000211

Abstract

"Employer engagement with active labor market programs (ALMPs) and related employability projects is seen as vital to their ‘success’. However, the role of employers remains under-researched – a gap which widens in relation to non-governmental programs led by not-for-profit, third-sector organizations (TSOs). Recent studies suggest that engaging employers may depend on addressing both human resource (HR) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) ‘logics’ and linking the roles of ‘gatekeeper to jobs’ and ‘proactive strategic partner’. A key question is whether TSO-led programs are better placed to combine these logics and roles in engaging employers to help vulnerable groups into decent sustainable employment. The article explores this through a case study of two projects in England. The findings highlight the challenges that TSOs face in having to appeal almost exclusively to a CSR logic and explores why this is the case." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Corbett, Emily, Michael McGann, Mark Considine & René Rejón (2025): Trauma‐Informed Practice in Welfare‐to‐Work and Employment Services: A Scoping Review. In: Australian journal of social issues. DOI:10.1002/ajs4.70015

Abstract

"There is increasing recognition within welfare services, including employment services, that many participants may have histories of trauma. Research suggests that experiences of trauma not only impact individuals' psychosocial health but also vocational elements such as job performance, employability, career progression, and financial security. Yet, there is a notable lack of research detailing effective strategies for the delivery of trauma-informed employment services nor is there a well-established, empirically-tested model designed to assist such disadvantaged jobseekers in achieving long-term employment. This scoping review examines what is known regarding trauma-informed models within employment service delivery and social security systems, with a view to directing future research, practice, and policy recommendations. A total of 596 articles were identified through a comprehensive search across social science databases; 14 articles met the criteria and were included in this review. The study found that out of the articles examined, half (n = 7) were primarily theoretical in design. There was a significant lack of empirical evidence concerning the outcomes of trauma-informed employment services, including participants' experiences." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dahl, Espen, Kjetil A. van der Wel, Åsmund Hermansen & Magne Bråthen (2025): Work Hazards and Social Class among ‘successful’ ALMP-Participants in Norway. In: Journal of Comparative Social Work, Jg. 19, H. 2, S. 89-119. DOI:10.31265/jcsw.v19i2.664

Abstract

"Background and research question. Studies of the outcomes of participation in Active Labor Market Programs (ALMP) focus primarily on employment status or earnings. Few studies address the social class and work environment that “successful ” ALMP-participants transit to. Little is also known about whether participation in different types of ALMPs leads to different social classes and work environments. This is unfortunate since many ALMP participants have health challenges and reduced work ability and thus are particularly susceptible to poor working conditions. Data and methods: Using Norwegian register data, we examined social class and exposure to hazardous working conditions, measured by a Mechanical Job Exposure Matrix and a Psychosocial Job Exposure Matrix, that characterized the jobs of “successful” ALMP participants, compared with the general work force. Results: We found that both mechanical and psychosocial job exposures in male ALMP-participants were higher than those of the general work force. For female participants, mechanical exposures were higher than the average level in the general work force, while psychosocial exposures were lower. Further, job exposures differed by ALMP type, but after adjustment for age, education and social class, only negligible differences in job exposures between ALMP types remained. Social class contributed to variation in both mechanical and psychosocial job exposures, most for mechanical exposures among male participants, and least for psychosocial exposures among female participants. Conclusion: Compared with the general working population, former ALMP participants, regardless of what type of programs they participated in, entered lower social classes and tended to face more hazardous work environment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Eppel, Rainer, Ulrike Huemer, Helmut Mahringer & Lukas Schmoigl (2025): Statistical Profiling as a Targeting Tool: Can It Enhance the Efficiency of Active Labor Market Policies? (WIFO working papers 694), Wien, 33 S.

Abstract

"Digitization has spurred interest in the potential of statistical profiling to improve the targeting of active labor market policies. Despite growing adoption, empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such profiling in program allocation is scarce. We evaluate a semi-automated statistical profiling model in Austria that aims to target policies based on predicted reemployment prospects (low, medium, high). Our analysis shows that a reallocation of resources from low-chance to medium-chance segments, as envisaged by the Public Employment Service, would not yield the desired efficiency gains. Employment programs have a stronger impact on jobseekers with low job prospects than on those with medium prospects, and training programs are not consistently less effective in the low-chance segment either. Our findings suggest that the focus should remain on the most disadvantaged, both from an efficiency and an equity perspective. They caution against relying on overly coarse profiling and stress the need for nuanced targeting strategies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Frøyland, Kjetil, Helen Bull, Lisebet Skeie Skarpaas, Gerd Berget, Øystein Spjelkavik & June Ullevoldsæter Lystad (2025): Work inclusion of marginalized groups in a troubled city district - How can active labor market policies improve? In: Social Policy and Administration, Jg. 59, H. 3, S. 588-601. DOI:10.1111/spol.13058

Abstract

"Active labor market policies (ALMP) have faced challenges in integrating marginalised groups into the workforce. This study explores perceptions among managers and frontline workers on enhancing work inclusion for neurodiverse citizens, marginalized youth, and individuals suffering from mental health or substance use disorders in a troubled city district. An examination of dialogue conferences and group interviews uncovers problems with current practises, attitudes, and service organisation. The proposed local solutions primarily include improved coordination of support and services, as well as enhanced competence within these services. Our results indicate that co-creation at the system, organization, and individual levels, coupled with expanded knowledge translation, can mobilise local actors to create new or adopt existing knowledge-based strategies. Therefore, local co-creation presents a potential for developing local inclusion strategies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Guardiancich, Igor & Eugenio Borgognoni (2025): The post-socialist neoliberal agenda through the prism of Europeanization in social and labour market policy. In: Journal of European Social Policy. DOI:10.1177/09589287251331577

Abstract

"In post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the European Commission acted as an advocate of social and labour market policy change, promoting an almost ideal-typical neoliberal agenda, whose central tenets were fiscal sustainability in pensions and internal devaluation in wage setting. Related country-specific recommendations and their routine reviews, however, show not only the Commission’s preferences in the two policy fields, but also its perception of the liberal credentials of the targeted countries. Exploiting such a methodological innovation, the article investigates the extent and reasons for the variation in the EU’s recommendations and evaluations. These reveal that whereas in wage setting deregulation and decentralization predominate, CEE pension systems, despite rounds of avantgardist reforms, are replete with inherited path-dependent elements; the divergence possibly explained by the power resources of those interest groups defending the socialist or early transition status quo. The considerable consistency across countries at the level of individual policy fields, coupled with variation in the adherence to neoliberal principles, neatly dovetails with the literature that emphasizes capitalist and/or welfare regime diversity within a circumscribed liberal-oriented range." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Hijdra, Roos W., Marike van Kalken, Stijn de Zeeuw, Arie Dijkstra, Alex Burdorf & Merel Schuring (2025): The Influence of a Health Promotion Program on Health and Paid Employment Among Long-Term Non-employed Individuals in the Netherlands. In: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, S. 1-10. DOI:10.1007/s10926-025-10290-7

Abstract

"Purpose: Long-term unemployment is accompanied by worse health, making it challenging to enter paid employment. This study aims to investigate effects of a health promotion program on physical and mental health, work ability, and entering paid employment among long-term non-employed individuals. Methods: In a longitudinal study, Exercise Works participants (N = 208) and a treatment-as-usual group (N = 117) were followed with measurements at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months. The Exercise Works program is a health promotion program that lasts 12 to 18 weeks. It consists of individual- and group-based physical exercises, lifestyle education, and individual coaching for two half days per week. A generalized linear mixed model for repeated measurements was used to investigate changes within individuals in health status, employment participation, and work ability during the Exercise Works program in comparison to the control group. Subgroup analyses were performed based on socio-demographic characteristics and a per protocol analysis. Interviews with 20 participants and 21 professionals were conducted. Results: This study demonstrated no significant improvements in physical and mental health, work ability and being in paid employment participation among participants of Exercise Works compared to the control group. Participants and professionals had a very positive impression of the Exercise Works program. Conclusion: Despite the Exercise Works program being positively received, the effect evaluation did not demonstrate its effectiveness. Complex problems of non-employed persons should be addressed when developing a health promotion program." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kucsera, Dénes, Hanno Lorenz & Wolfgang Nagl (2025): Monetary work-incentives within the Austrian tax and benefit system. In: Empirica, Jg. 52, H. 1, S. 39-62. DOI:10.1007/s10663-024-09632-0

Abstract

"This paper analyses incentives to take up work or to increase working hours within the Austrian tax and benefit system. We analyze the monetary work incentives for a variety of family constellations (singles, single parents, families with children) with different incomes from dependent employment, when receiving unemployment benefits, and in the system of means-tested minimum income. Moreover, the effect of different earning ceilings (childcare and unemployment) and childcare costs is additionally investigated. Insufficient and, therefore, privately provided childcare is viewed as a missing component of the benefit system. The Austrian tax and benefit system is designed to be incentive-compatible for singles. Only marginal employment without deductions in the event of unemployment creates a negative incentive to expand employment beyond this extent. However, raising children creates negative monetary incentives. On the one hand, through the upper limits on additional earnings during times of childcare allowance, but especially when childcare costs arise." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kyyrä, Tomi & Jouko Verho (2025): Do Financial Incentives for Training and Caseworker Meetings Enhance Re-employment? (VATT working papers / Valtion Taloudellinen Tutkimuskeskus (Helsinki) 175), Helsinki, 39 S.

Abstract

"In 2005, displaced workers in Finland with at least three years of work history were given the option to enroll in a Re-employment Program. Participants met with a caseworker at the beginning of their unemployment and drafted an employment plan. In return, they became eligible for higher benefits for four weeks, as well as for the duration of individually targeted training programs specified in their plan. The program aimed to provide early counseling, encourage participation in labor market training, and improve matches between training programs and job seekers. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we show that the program increased caseworker meetings and participation in training programs but had no effect on unemployment duration in the short run or employment in the longer run. The effect on training participation was particularly strong for men, older workers and low-skilled workers, yet unemployment and employment effects were equally disappointing across all subgroups." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lundberg, Kjetil G., Suzan M. Skjold, Arnhild Melve & Astrid O. Sundsbø (2025): Iterations of work inclusion beyond the standard service. Personalized welfare services in the era of activation and innovation. In: Journal of Comparative Social Work, Jg. 19, H. 2, S. 63-88. DOI:10.31265/jcsw.v19i2.663

Abstract

"Employment services are repeatedly criticised for building barriers to service user participation and decent employment due to combinations of conditionality, bureaucratic logics, high caseloads and scarce resources. However, a range of newer service approaches recognise some of these shortcomings, and aim for personalization, service coordination, and/or increased connection to employers. In this article, we compare four programmes and their key worker roles, implemented in Norwegian postreform welfare and employment services (NAV) in the 2010s, as iterations of work inclusion beyond the standard follow-up service. These approaches are sensitive to gaps in the current service system, and they invest in the relationship between the professional worker and the service user, working both within and beyond social work approaches. Situated in the broader research literature on activation, personalisation and street-level organizations, we provide an analysis of how these approaches go beyond “business as usual” through strengthened key worker roles. We argue that the relational work approach adopted in these measures has the potential to foster the participation of service users, and to smoothen and sometimes tone down the conditional aspects of services, but that different organisational demands and accountability mechanisms produce a different space of action for key workers and users to shape the path towards labour and social inclusion." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Meuleman, Bart, Arno Van Hootegem, Federica Rossetti & Koen Abts (2025): Two faces of activation attitudes. Explaining citizens' diverging views on demanding versus enabling activation policies. In: Social Policy and Administration, Jg. 59, H. 1, S. 174-191. DOI:10.1111/spol.13055

Abstract

"This study examines public attitudes towards two types of ALMPs: enabling activation, which prioritises training, skill formation, and human capital improvement; and demanding activation, which involves leading people towards employment through sanctions and benefit cuts. While previous research has predominantly focused on demanding activation, this study is the first to compare public support for the two distinct faces of activation. Analyzing data from the 2020 Belgian National Elections Study, we examine the role of self-interest, political ideology, social justice preferences, and stereotypical images towards the unemployed in explaining both types of activation attitudes. We find that attitudes towards enabling and demanding activation policies are clearly distinct in their measurement and driving forces. While the enabling type appeals especially to the principle of equality and positive attitudes towards the unemployed, support for demanding ALMPs is based on the principle of equity and stereotypical views about the jobless." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Parsland, Ellen & Gabriella Scaramuzzino (2025): "I feel good here". A qualitative study on subsidised employment in a Swedish municipal labour market programme. In: Journal of Comparative Social Work, Jg. 19, H. 2, S. 38-62. DOI:10.31265/jcsw.v19i2.657

Abstract

"The aim of this article is to understand how a group of subsidized employees constructed a collective identity and symbolic community, and the role the municipal labor market programme played in that process. Further, it explores whether and how a shared collective identity and symbolic community may provide an explanation for how the ‘successful intervention/lock-in effect paradox’ occurs when using subsidized employment as an activation intervention. The article is based on a qualitative interview study with eight social workers and 11 subsidized employees from a Swedish municipal labour market program that offered subsidised employment as its main intervention. The interviews were analysed using the concepts of social identity and symbolic community. The article shows that subsidized employment plays a crucial role in subsidised employees constructing their identity as ‘persons with a job’, as distinct from the activation interventions usually associated with social assistance. The labor market programme serves as a transformative space where receiving a salary becomes a symbol of distinction, marking a significant departure from past experiences of receiving social assistance. The article also highlights the role of social workers in subsidised employees’ identity processes. The social workers perceived the subsidised employees as participants with special needs, and subsidiszd employment as an intervention which could influence the planning and support provided during the subsidized employment. The collective identity developed by the participants fostered a sense of community, but also led to reluctance to leave the program, driven by the fear of reverting to social assistance, and once again being excluded from the labor market. The article concludes that the subsidized employees risked getting stuck in a borderland between work exclusion and work inclusion and, therefore, that subsidised employment can potentially place participants in a state of ‘marginalised inclusion’ in the labor market, instead of supporting participants into regular employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Whitworth, Adam (2025): Activation, Work and Well‐Being: Theory, Evidence and Policy Implications. In: Social Policy and Administration. DOI:10.1111/spol.13120

Abstract

"Despite the centrality of activation, paid work and well-being to advanced welfare systems their inter-relationships remain fragmented and underdeveloped in scholarship and policy. The present article makes original contributions to theory, evidence and policy in this context. Theoretically the article presents the two alternative accounts of these relationships and argues for their integration into a single framework. Empirically, path analyses within multivariate structural equation models examine this novel integrated theorization quantitatively for the first time in the literature using the policy case study of a UK-based voluntary Individual Placement and Support (IPS) activation program for people with substance misuse issues. The findings support our integrated theoretical framework and highlight the direct importance of activation programs to client well-being through programme participation alongside their indirect well-being importance through the well-being effects of resulting paid work transitions. The well-being implications for policy and practice are significant and further research is needed to further develop our understanding of how different activation approaches affect well-being both directly and through its shaping of differing employment types and trajectories." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Östling, Maja (2025): Deemed as ‘Distant’: Categorizing Unemployment in Sweden’s Evolving Welfare Landscape. In: Social Sciences, Jg. 14, H. 3. DOI:10.3390/socsci14030129

Abstract

"Over the past 30 years, Swedish labor market politics has swayed towards stronger workfare tendencies, emphasizing activation requirements for unemployed individuals to access welfare benefits. This process aligns with broader neoliberal reforms, fostering an individualistic view of unemployment characterized by personal responsibility for employability. In 2023, the Swedish Public Employment Service (PES) published a report addressing the needs of and solutions for long-term unemployed individuals ‘distant from the labor market’ (Sw. personer långt från arbetsmarknaden), marking the first formal use of this term as the main adhesive category in a political document. This paper examines the construction of the subject position ‘distant from the labor market’, investigating how it delineates and differentiates subgroups within the unemployed population, how this subgroup is understood in relation to other actors, and how discursive frameworks imbue this category with various meanings. Lastly, the paper discusses the categorization in relation to the current developments in the Swedish welfare system, arguing that the formalization of this category should be understood in relation to parallel political processes, such as proposals for a duty of activity for the unemployed, suggesting how this points to a way forward defined by neoliberal tendencies and welfare conditionality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Östling, Maja, Sara Nyhlén & Katarina Giritli Nygren (2025): What if all kinds of work were considered ‘real jobs,’ and everyone who worked had a job? Using imaginary thinking in the context of Swedish municipal activation services. In: Economic and Industrial Democracy, S. 1-19. DOI:10.1177/0143831x251326205

Abstract

"This article explores active labor market policies through a utopian lens, focusing on Swedish municipal activation services. Users of such services participated in visionary workshops and were invited to dream about what could be different in their (working) lives. In the analysis of the participants’ dreams, a Tension between the internalization of and resistance to employability narratives, market logics, and capitalist structures emerges. By examining these dynamics, the article demonstrates how utopian thinking, rooted in experiences from the margins of the labor market, can inspire critiques of current labor systems and help in envisioning possible futures." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Eppel, Rainer, Ulrike Huemer, Helmut Mahringer & Lukas Schmoigl (2024): Active Labour Market Policies: What Works for the Long-term Unemployed? (WIFO working papers 671), Wien, 22 S.

Abstract

"There is still a lack of knowledge on how to effectively help the long-term unemployed into employment. We evaluate a wide range of active labor market policies for this target group, using a dynamic matching approach. Measures vary considerably in the extent to which they improve labor market prospects. Human capital-intensive training programmes that substantially enhance vocational skills and employment programs are most effective, short activating job search training the least. Our results suggest that not only wage subsidies in the private sector, but also direct job creation in the public and non-profit sector can work, if properly designed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Eppel, Rainer, Ulrike Huemer, Helmut Mahringer & Lukas Schmoigl (2024): Active Labor Market Policies: What Works for the Long-Term Unemployed? In: The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, Jg. 24, H. 1, S. 141-185. DOI:10.1515/bejeap-2023-0079

Abstract

"There is still a lack of knowledge on how to effectively help the long-term unemployed into employment. We evaluate a wide range of active labour market policies for this target group, using a dynamic matching approach. Measures vary considerably in the extent to which they improve labor market prospects. Human capital-intensive training programs that substantially enhance vocational skills and employment programs are most effective, short activating job search training the least. Our results suggest that not only wage subsidies in the private sector, but also direct job creation in the public and non-profit sectors can work, if properly designed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © De Gruyter) ((en))

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Ernst, Ekkehard, Rossana Merola & Jelena Reljic (2024): Fiscal policy instruments for inclusive labor markets: A review. (GLO discussion paper / Global Labor Organization 1406), Essen, 38 S.

Abstract

"This study provides a critical assessment of various fiscal policy instruments - including direct public job creation, active labor market and care policies, social protection measures and tax reforms - and their effectiveness in supporting the most vulnerable groups in the labor market. Although much of the literature has focused on the quantitative effects of fiscal policy, this article concentrates on the qualitative aspects and examines the role of fiscal instruments in achieving a more inclusive and fair labor market. Our review shows that the empirical literature tends to overemphasise the capacity of individual policies to mitigate inequalities, neglecting the complex interdependencies among various mechanisms and policies in place. We argue, instead, that a systematic approach is necessary to ensure equitable access to good jobs and to address the disparities between different labor market groups. We also identify significant research gaps, such as the need for longitudinal studies on the long-term policy impacts, an exploration of the regional disparities within the policy-inequality nexus and the sector-specific effects of fiscal measures, especially relevant in the context of the green and digital transition." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gerven, Minna van, Tuuli Malava, Peppi Saikku & Merita Mesiäislehto (2024): Towards a new era in the governance of integrated activation: A systematic review of the literature on the governance of welfare benefits and employment-related services in Europe (2010–21). In: Social Policy and Administration, Jg. 58, H. 3, S. 329-343. DOI:10.1111/spol.12960

Abstract

"This article presents the results of a systematic literature review of research articles (N = 72) to study the governance logic of integrated activation policies and the problems relating to reintegrating welfare benefits with services. The inductive study of the problems indicated in the literature demonstrates both the vertical and horizontal aspects of the governance of integrated activation at the street level: challenges are tied to the top-down activation policy; requirements and strategies of delivering benefits and services; collaboration and coordination in delivery chains; and risks and inequality that streel-level bureaucrats are trying to deal with in their work. The results point primarily to flaws in the vertical governance of activation, such as frontline work problems and collaborative practices between different actors and agencies. Moreover, some problems relating to collaboration and coordination, pointed towards the challenges in horizontal governance of activation. The article, however, demonstrates how the governance of integrated activation requires a coupling of these different streams of governance and understanding governance as a complex network of interdependencies and causal connections between institutions, organisations, and co-production with end users." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Gjersøe, Heidi Moen & Heidi Nicolaisen (2024): Work First or Education First? Frontline Service Challenges of Providing Enabling Activation. In: Social Policy and Society, S. 1-12. DOI:10.1017/s1474746424000472

Abstract

"Activation policies, especially formal upskilling, can strengthen social inequality among long-term unemployed people. Also, receiving skill-enhancing activities may be at odds with the ‘work first’ principle. Drawing on interviews with frontline workers in the Norwegian employment and welfare service (NAV), this article analyses how frontline workers handle the challenging aspects arising from activation policies in providing enabling activities to claimants who need comprehensive support. The findings suggest that frontline workers face claimants who expect to embark on an education, and on the contrary, claimants who lack motivation or capability to do so. In both cases, frontline workers are challenged in terms of experiencing contradictory expectations from policies and users and in assessing future outcomes and suitability of the services. Education activities provided by the public employment agency (PES) involves multiple policy fields and require specific competency on the part of frontline workers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Hansen, Magnus Paulsen, Signe Elmer Christensen & Peter Triantafillou (2024): Legitimating collaboration, collaborating to legitimate: Justification work in “holistic” services for long-term unemployed persons. In: Journal of Social Policy, Jg. 53, H. 3, S. 876-896. DOI:10.1017/S004727942200071X

Abstract

"To address complex social problems, such as long-term unemployment, local authorities in many countries are developing “holistic” or “integrated” services, where multiple actors and professions collaborate with a view to better meet the needs of the individual citizen. By breaking with existing practices and regulations, collaborative services must be legitimized in new ways so as to appear acceptable not only in the eyes of the public and politicians, but also to caseworkers and the long-term unemployed persons. This article examines the multifarious and sometimes neglected efforts to make these collaborative services legitimate in the eyes of this plurality of stakeholders on multiple levels of governance. Our study indicates three distinct but mutually interrelated spheres of audience that require partly conflicting justification work. We also find that the narrow pursuit of justification work to ensure legitimacy with one audience may potentially jeopardize the justification work in the other two." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Hootegem, Arno Van, Federica Rossetti, Koen Abts & Bart Meuleman (2024): The ideological roots of the activation paradigm: How justice preferences and unemployment attributions shape public support for demanding activation policies. In: International Journal of Social Welfare, Jg. 33, H. 3, S. 617-633. DOI:10.1111/ijsw.12628

Abstract

"Research either focused on self-interest or left-right ideology to explain support for demanding active labour market policies (ALMPs). This article focuses instead on how attitudes towards these policies are rooted in the underlying policy paradigm. We link attitudes towards ALMPs to two pillars of the activation paradigm: distributive justice and unemployment attributions. Structural equational modeling is employed on the Belgian National Election Study data of 2014 (N=1901). Individuals supporting the principles of need and equity and who blame the unemployed are more in favour of demanding activation. These frameworks and hence the policy paradigm thus have substantial predictive power." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Hughes, Ceri (2024): Re-examining ‘personalised conditionality’: full-time obligations, partial adjustments and power asymmetries in the UK’s approach to work-related conditionality. In: Journal of Social Policy, S. 1-16. DOI:10.1017/s0047279424000229

Abstract

"Work-related conditionality policy in the UK is built around the problematic assumption that people should commit to ‘full-time’ work and job search efforts as a condition of receiving benefits. This is potentially in conflict with the idea that what is required of people should be tailored to their circumstances in some way – ‘personalized conditionality’ – and implies a failure to recognize that conditionality is being applied to a diverse group of people and in a context where the paid work that is available is often temporary and insecure. Drawing on thirty-three qualitative interviews with people subject to intensive work-related conditionality whilst receiving Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance in Manchester, the paper explores the work-related time demands that people were facing and argues that these provide a lens for examining the rigidities and contradictions of conditionality policy. The findings indicate that expectations are often set in relation to an ideal of full-time hours and in a highly asymmetric context that is far from conducive to being able to negotiate a reasonable set of work-related expectations. Work search requirements affect people differently depending on their personal circumstances and demand-side factors, and can act to weaken the position of people entering, or already in, work." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Jones, Katy & Calum Carson (2024): A step too far: Employer perspectives on in-work conditionality. In: Journal of European Social Policy, Jg. 34, H. 3, S. 338-353. DOI:10.1177/09589287241232817

Abstract

"This chapter explores employer perspectives on the extension of behavioural conditionality to working social security claimants (‘in-work conditionality’). As policymakers across Europe and other developed nations have pursued increasingly interventionist approaches to activating the unemployed through conditional welfare policies, the UK has gone a significant and ‘unprecedented’ step further by requiring those in receipt of in-work benefits to demonstrate their efforts to increase their working hours and/or pay. As the actors ultimately in control over the jobs people can access and progress in, understanding employer perspectives on this new policy development is critical, which, however, has so far been overlooked by policymakers and researchers. We address this omission through presenting original analysis of 84 semi-structured interviews conducted with a diverse group of employers. We find that while the UK’s Work First approach to activation has seemingly encountered little resistance from employers to date, this new Work First, Work More approach may be a step too far. We contribute theoretically by identifying a potential role for employers as latent path disruptors in policy development, and challenge the commonly-held assumption that employers are typically supportive of extensions of behavioural conditionality to social security claimants." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kleindienst, Jens; Yuliya Kosyakova (sonst. bet. Pers.) (2024): Ukraine-Flüchtlinge: Der schwierige Weg zum ersten Job. Interview. In: Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz H. 12.04.2024.

Abstract

"Zwei Jahre nach Kriegsbeginn haben sehr viele Ukraine-Flüchtlinge noch keine Arbeit in Deutschland gefunden. Die Arbeitsmarktexpertin Yuliya Kosyakova spricht im Interview darüber, woran das liegt und was andere Länder besser machen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Kröner, Lea, Deni Mazrekaj, Tanja van der Lippe & Anne‐Rigt Poortman (2024): Profiles Among Women Without a Paid Job and Social Benefits: An Intersectional Perspective Using Dutch Population Register Data. In: Social Policy and Administration. DOI:10.1111/spol.13080

Abstract

"Despite their potential vulnerability and untapped work potential, research on the group of women without a paid job and social benefits is limited. This study is the first to identify profiles among women in this group based on their intersecting economic, sociodemographic and contextual characteristics. A cluster analysis conducted on Dutch population register data from 2019 challenges previous research that lumped women without a paid job and social benefits into a single group. Rather, we reveal three distinct profiles: ‘Dutch empty nesters (i.e., mothers with adult children) in affluent households’, ‘Migrant women in urban living areas’ and ‘Dutch, educated mothers with affluent partners’. The identification of these three profiles can mark a significant step in developing tailored active labour market policies for women without a paid job and social benefits." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Laín, Bru & Albert Julià (2024): Why Do Poor People Not Take up Benefits? Evidence from the Barcelona's B-MINCOME Experiment. In: Journal of Social Policy, Jg. 53, S. 167-188. DOI:10.1017/S0047279422000575

Abstract

"Non-take-up, i.e. individuals not applying for a benefit they are eligible for, is a widespread problem limiting the reach of welfare and protection systems. This paper seeks to understand it by means of a theoretical framework comprising two levels of analysis: the claimants’ individual characteristics in relation to the information barriers they face, and the administrative logic and functioning regarding the communications strategy used by public institutions. To test the hypotheses of these two levels of analysis, the paper analyses the B-MINCOME pilot scheme, a cash transfer programme implemented in the city of Barcelona between 2017 and 2019. Findings indicate that, although claimants’ characteristics may play a significant role, the administrative functioning and the communications strategy are fundamental in determining take-up rates. The conclusions briefly address some of the technical and moral concerns raised by non-take-up." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Määttä, Mirja, Sanna Toiviainen & Sanna Aaltonen (2024): Participatory Support for NEET Young People: A Case Study of a Finnish Educational Project. In: Journal of applied youth studies, Jg. 7, H. 1, S. 65-82. DOI:10.1007/s43151-024-00115-4

Abstract

"The aim of this paper is to offer a nuanced inquiry into the practices and scope of educational support offered to young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET). The study is based on participant observations and qualitative interviews with 35 young people and five project workers within the context of a Finnish educational project, which offered a daily group-based learning environment for 15-to-24-year-old NEET young people. Following a sociological interventionist approach, we interpret the logic of action—program theory—of the project, namely how the project workers defined the problems they intended to solve and what their aims and practical solutions were. Enhancing youth participation was the key point of their program theory. We juxtapose the program theory with young people's perceptions of how they experienced the project's participation-enhancing measures. In our analysis, we describe three levels of activity and participation forms the project enabled for the young people involved: individual, communal, and structural. The project enabled young people's participation by offering tailored support for education and work and a social learning community linking young people to the wider community. Structural and systemic hindrances were also acknowledged, but the project aimed at helping the students adapt to these rather than challenging them. The results of this case study suggest that projects targeting NEET young people can operate and have an effect beyond individual support but could pay more attention to the structural barriers and let young people develop their own critical thinking." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Möhring, Katja & Céline Teney (2024): Public support for affirmative action policies favouring women and migrants in recruitment processes: An international survey experiment. In: Acta sociologica, Jg. 67, H. 2, S. 215-231. DOI:10.1177/00016993231163416

Abstract

"Affirmative action policies (AAP) polarise the public debate in Western democracies as they involve favouring one candidate at the cost of others because of their group membership. Against this backdrop, we ran a factorial survey experiment in Denmark, France and Germany on the introduction of a hypothetical regulation favouring women and immigrants with equal qualifications in the recruitment process for a management position (N = 4264; YouGov online panel). Our data show that support for AAP for women is significantly greater than for immigrants in all three countries. Moreover, support for AAP is much higher in France than in Germany and Denmark. Germans and Danes show similar low support for AAP for immigrants, while support for AAP for women is higher in Germany than Denmark. We conducted multilevel regression models to investigate the power of several attitudinal factors in explaining target group and country differences. Results show that respondents’ varying levels of ethnic and gender prejudice and perceived disadvantage entirely explain target group differences in support for AAP. Furthermore, differences between Germany and Denmark in the support of AAP for women are explained by different levels of prejudices and perceived disadvantage, and attitudes towards state intervention. However, these attitudinal variables cannot explain why support for AAP is much higher in France." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Nielsen, Stine Piilgaard Porner & Ole Hammerslev (Hrsg.) (2024): Transformations of European Welfare States and Social Rights. Regulation, Professionals, and Citizens. (Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies), Cham: Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, X, 226 S. DOI:10.1007/978-3-031-46637-3

Abstract

"This open access edited book investigates European social rights in practice from socio-legal perspectives. It brings together fourteen socio-legal scholars, representing Nordic and Western European countries, who analyze different aspects pertaining to European social rights, namely the regulation of social rights, encounters between welfare professionals and citizens, and citizens' mobilization of social rights. These three different aspects from the structure for the sections in the anthology, each analyzing transformations related to regulation, encounters and rights mobilization. The book contributes to the existing literature as it focuses on interdependent transformations on macro, meso and micro levels which are key for understanding processes and contexts related to European social rights in practice. It speaks particularly to academics in sociology of law and/or regulation. Stine Piilgaard Porner Nielsen is Postdoc in the Department of Law at University of Southern Denmark. Ole Hammerslev is Professor of Sociology of Law at Lund University, Sweden." (Provided by publisher)

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Popova, Daria, Katrin Gasior & Silvia Avram (2024): Outside the box? – Women's individual poverty risk in the EU and the role of labor market characteristics and tax-benefit policies. (ISER working paper series / Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex 2024-02), Colchester, 31 S.

Abstract

"Social policy debates as early as the 1950s have focused on the activation of individuals into employment. This assumes jobs with good work-ing conditions and fair pay; ignores women's reality of part-time work, unpaid care work and the gender pay gap; and has often resulted in the weakening of traditional social protection. We study the individual poverty risk of women under the adult worker paradigm across the EU using the tax-benefit model EUROMOD and EU-SILC data. Comparing the individual poverty risk of working-age women to the benchmark of typical male workers, we highlight heterogeneity driven by women's economic situation and job characteristics and analyze the role of the tax-benefit system in reducing the gap. The analysis shows that only slightly more than one third of women isn't the adult worker model, while this is the case for almost two thirds of men. Inactive and unemployed women are particularly likely to be vulnerable to poverty, but even women with the same characteristics as male reference workers experience a higher poverty risk, highlighting the role of the gender pay gap. Benefits cushion some of the gendered labor market differences but are often not generous enough for unemployed and inactive women or not sufficiently available for self-employed women. Women in atypical employment are furthermore disproportionally affected by taxes and social insurance contributions as they lead to a higher poverty rate, contributing to a larger gap compared to typical male workers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Reeves, Aaron, Mark Fransham, Kitty Stewart, Mary Reader & Ruth Patrick (2024): Capping welfare payments for workless families increases employment and economic inactivity: Evidence from the UK's benefit cap. In: International Journal of Social Welfare, Jg. 33, H. 4, S. 981-994. DOI:10.1111/ijsw.12651

Abstract

"In this paper, we examine the labor market effects of lowering the UK's benefit cap in 2016. This policy limits the total amount a working‐age non‐disabled household with no‐one in employment can receive in social security. We treat the sharp reduction in this benefit cap as a natural experiment, comparing those at risk of being capped and those who were not before and after the cap was lowered. Drawing on data from ~500,000 individuals, we find that this reform reduced unemployment compared to those not at risk of being capped. The reform also increased economic inactivity, partly because the cap harmed mental health but also because those at risk of being capped were eligible to claim disability‐related welfare payments that made them exempt. Limiting total monthly welfare payments of low‐income families may increase employment for some but it can also push others out of the labor market altogether." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Robertshaw, David Keith (2024): Lost in Categorisation? Employment Subsidies – Bringing the Beneficiaries Back In. In: Journal of Social Policy, Jg. 53, S. 86-106. DOI:10.1017/S0047279422000216

Abstract

"Employment subsidies are important active labor market policy (ALMP) tools, suited to a variety of labor market challenges. This paper engages with recent ALMP categorisation debates by appraising Cronert’s (2019) recent typology of employment subsidies. It uses empirical material to assess the typology’s explanatory power and produce insights to inform further typological development. The illustrative case of the British ‘ Wage Incentive’ (2012-2014) is used to assess the typology’s analytical purchase. Cronert’s typology helpfully identifies key distinctions in the distributional profiles of employment subsidies, but further understanding of the category is impeded by the practice of defining them as demand-side interventions. The paper argues for a reappraisal of their supply-side characteristics, maintaining that the (potential) worker should be included in the analysis, and that employment subsidies’ relationship with training and job creation should be acknowledged.It proposes a redefinition of employment subsidies reflecting their real-world use, and suggests a framework for further exploring varieties of employment subsidy design from the perspective of beneficiaries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Rovelli, Riccardo (2024): Labor market institutions and policies in old and new EU members. (IZA world of labor 222,2), Bonn, 12 S. DOI:10.15185/izawol.222.v2

Abstract

"Old and new EU member states still adopt quite different labor market institutions and policies: convergence has been partial and limited. Nevertheless, a new agreement is spreading on the importance of well-developed, coordinated institutions, supported by social dialogue, in view of the increasing challenges posed by the macro economy and by the increasing fragmentation of labor markets." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Sant, Kurt (2024): The impact of Malta's Tapering of Benefits scheme on employment outcomes. In: International social security review, Jg. 77, H. 3, S. 31-57. DOI:10.1111/issr.12366

Abstract

"This article analyses the Tapering of Benefits scheme introduced in Malta in 2014, aimed at unlocking the poverty trap stalemate. Survival analysis and Cox proportional hazard models are employed to analyse the impact that the scheme has had on the job-finding rate and the chances of retaining employment once individuals who were previously on benefits find a job. The analyses are based on high-quality national data on the whole population of beneficiaries and their employment histories. The results show that the scheme doubles the job-finding probability, whilst the chance of job termination drops by 11.8 percentage points for eligible individuals. Furthermore, the scheme's impact once it finally tapers out is not different from the first 36 months, showing that its impact is robust in the medium term." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Skjold, Suzan Mbatudde & Kjetil Grimastad Lundberg (2024): Accountability in personalized Supported Employment-based activation services. In: Journal of Social Policy, Jg. 53, H. 4, S. 916-932. DOI:10.1017/S0047279422000915

Abstract

"This article explores the accountability experiences and orientations of frontline workers implementing personalized activation services in the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV). The study draws on observations and interviews (2021), with three teams of employment specialists using Supported Employment as an approach to personalized service provision, in a national program called Extended Follow-up. Adopting the theoretical lens of accountability as behaviors of account giving, three strategies on how to adopt the accountability regime at the frontline are highlighted: (i) reporting, where one team complied with accountability requirements as the perceived best practices for achieving success in work inclusion; (ii) mitigating, where accountability requirements were fulfilled but combined with attention to how to best meet jobseekers’ needs; and (iii) reframing, where accountability requirements were challenged and redefined. The study highlights how accountability requirements may be interpreted variably, promoting personalized service innovation on the one hand or stagnation on the other." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Wiese, Rasmus, João Tovar Jalles & Jakob de Haan (2024): Structural reforms and income distribution: new evidence for OECD countries. In: Oxford economic papers, Jg. 76, H. 4, S. 1071-1088. DOI:10.1093/oep/gpae002

Abstract

"This article examines the impact of labor market and product market reforms on income inequality for 25 OECD countries between 1970 and 2020, using the local projections approach and an updated narrative-based dataset of the reform indicators. Our results suggest that both types of (endogenized) market-oriented reforms increase income inequality, but the effects are small. Consistent with this finding is that counter-reforms lead to less income inequality. Our results also indicate that the inequality-increasing effect of market-oriented reforms is mostly a result of more income going to the top of the income distribution." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Yu, Yip-Ching (2024): Precarious welfare-to-work transitions in a segmented labour market: Evidence from the Netherlands. In: International Journal of Social Welfare, Jg. 33, H. 1, S. 151-177. DOI:10.1111/ijsw.12591

Abstract

"Promoting outflow from the welfare system has been one of the main objectives of activation-focused welfare reforms implemented across Europe over the past decades, with the underlying assumption that labour market attachment is the route to self-sufficiency. This article assesses this assumption by investigating the extent to which the propensities and determinants of welfare persistence and cycling are differential for native and second-generation young adults located in the opposite ends of labour market structure. Using panel administrative data from the Statistics Netherlands (CBS), it follows the welfare-to-work transitions of Dutch native and second-generation young adults in the Netherlands during a 6-year observation period (2010–2015). Simultaneous effects of labour market segmentation and ethnic penalty are modelled using a first-order Markov transition model that accounts for endogeneities from initial conditions and unobserved heterogeneity. The results suggest that welfare exit is not a good predictor of self-sufficiency in the Dutch context, and there are differential prospects for achieving and sustaining self-sufficiency among Dutch native and second-generation young adults. A considerable degree of welfare persistence in the medium term and welfare cycling in the long term are found among individuals who had fallen out of self-sufficiency. Such patterns of precarious welfare-to-work transitions are particularly common among non-Dutch workers employed in the secondary labour market." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Štefánik, Miroslav & Lukáš Lafférs (2024): Supporting the right workplace experience: a dynamic evaluation of three activation programmes for young job seekers in Slovakia. In: Journal for labour market research, Jg. 58. DOI:10.1186/s12651-024-00374-x

Abstract

"This paper investigates three alternative active labor market policy programs available to young job seekers in Slovakia who were registered in 2011. All of the programmes facilitate gaining work experience and share a comparable design; however, they differ mainly in the collected workplace experience and the composition of participants. Using administrative data, we first explore the selection into each program; second, we estimate the treatment effects on job seekers’ postparticipation absence from the registry of the unemployed. For this we argue that we have sufficiently rich data to control for selection into programs. We use a dynamic estimator and report the average treatment effects of participation in different periods between the sixth and fifteenth month after starting unemployment. For participation in earlier stages of unemployment, we confirm differences in the programmes impacts, with patterns described by previous literature; workplace experience collected in either the private sector or in a regular workplace appears to improve the chances of absence from registered unemployment of young job seekers relatively more than does participation in a public works type of program. When compared later in the unemployment spell, the between-programme differences level out. Despite its ambivalent average impact, the public works type of programme positively impacts specific subgroups of participants." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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(2024): Joint Employment Report 2024. As adopted by the Council on 11 March 2024. (Joint employment report), Brüssel: Publications Office of the European Union, 167 S. DOI:10.2767/365500

Abstract

"The Joint Employment Report (JER) by the European Commission and the Council monitors the employment situation in the Union and the implementation of the Employment Guidelines, in line with Article 148 of the TFEU. The report provides an annual overview of key employment and social developments in the Union and of Member States’ recent policy measures, in line with the Guidelines for the Employment Policies of the Member States. It also identifies related key priority areas for policy action. Chapter 1 of the report presents an overview of key employment and social trends and of progress made on the 2030 EU headline and national targets, as well as horizontal findings of a country-analysis based on the features of the Social Convergence Framework (SCF). Chapter 2 analyses challenges and policy responses in the Member States for each of the four employment guidelines. Chapter 3 provides country-specific analysis for all Member States in line with the features of the SCF. Based on the proposal, and following exchanges in the relevant Council advisory committees, the final text was adopted by the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council on 11 March 2024. Addressing the challenges identified in the report will contribute to achieving upward social convergence, strengthen the Union’s drive towards fair green and digital transitions and contribute to facing demographic change, as well as the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the implementation of the Union of Equality Strategies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bastiaans, Mareen, Robert Dur & Anne C. Gielen (2023): Activating the Long-Term Inactive: Labor Market and Mental Health Effects. (Discussion paper / Tinbergen Institute 2023-003/V), Amsterdam u.a., 73 S.

Abstract

"In many Western countries, a sizeable group of people live on welfare benefits for a long time. Many of them suffer from mental health issues. This paper studies the labor market and mental health effects of an activation program targeting these long-term inactive people. We exploit the staggered implementation of the program in a difference-in-differences design. We find that the activation program hardly affects labor market outcomes. However, for those on mental health medication prior to the start of the program, the use of mental health medication substantially drops in the years following the start of the program. This effect is particularly pronounced for men. We also study spillover effects on the children of those targeted by the program, finding some suggestive evidence for improved learning and mental health outcomes." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Brülle, Jan (2023): No one-size-fits-all solution. Effects of social policies on in-work poverty across household types. (SocArXiv papers), 22 S. DOI:10.31235/osf.io/4qynt

Abstract

"The paper studies effects of social policies on in-work poverty risks, distinguishing between measures that either intervene in labour market processes -- i.e. predistribution policies -- or redistribute incomes towards those with low incomes. I argue that effects of different policies can be expected to vary across household contexts, due to the fact that the link between individual employment outcomes and in-work poverty is moderated by household type. The analyses uses data from EU-SILC and macro-level indicators from various sources to estimate general as well as household-type-specific effects using longitudinal methods. Results emphasize that labour market interventions and redistributive transfers impact in-work poverty risks through different mechanisms and also reveal important differences between specific policies: minimum wages contribute to reducing low-wage risks, whereas effects on in-work poverty are small and mainly restricted to single households where labour market outcomes and household income closely align. In contrast, there is a robust negative effect of strict employment protection legislation across almost all household types on in-work poverty, which is consistent with the positive role this measure plays for supporting higher earnings. With respect to redistributional policies, both unemployment benefits and benefits to low earners reduce poverty due to their contribution to public poverty-reduction. However, whereas unemployment benefits mainly reduce in-work poverty among couple households, benefits to low earners are the most effective measure to contribute to lower poverty risks among employed single parents." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cefalo, Ruggero & Rosario Scandurra (2023): What, for whom, and under what circumstances: Do activation policies increase youth employment in the EU? In: Journal of European Social Policy, Jg. 33, H. 4, S. 391-406. DOI:10.1177/09589287231199568

Abstract

"Activation measures have assumed a prominent role within policy perspectives aimed at increasing labour market participation to support welfare sustainability. Most comparative studies on active labour market policies (ALMPs) have been conducted at the national level, although several scholars recently stressed the need to consider more carefully the territorial dimension of social policies. This article addresses this research gap by providing quantitative estimates of the territorial effect of national ALMPs provision on youth employment in European regions. We find that regional contextual traits, which can present a variety of configurations, play a significant role in moderating the effects of ALMPs. Divergent outcomes per type and level of education also highlight the complexity of the landscape for ALMPs' design and implementation. Our analysis helps identify the institutional and contextual conditions that require evaluation when designing and implementing policies targeting young people." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Créchet, Jonathan (2023): Heterogeneity in labor mobility and unemployment flows across countries. In: European Economic Review, Jg. 155. DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104441

Abstract

"Empirical studies of labor-market flows suggest cross-country differences in long-run aggregate unemployment inflows and outflows of a strikingly large magnitude. The canonical search-and-matching framework of Mortensen and Pissarides (1994, 1999b; the MP model) features small elasticities of steady-state unemployment flows with respect to firing costs, at odds with the idea that labor-market institutions such as employment protection policies are a primary driver of this variation. This paper shows that introducing permanent match-quality heterogeneity in the standard MP model substantially amplifies these elasticities. It then develops a quantitative search model with worker and job heterogeneity consistent with U.S. worker-flow data. This model implies that employment protection differences plausibly account for most of the long-run unemployment-flow variation across high-income countries. In sharp contrast, shutting down heterogeneity implies that large changes in matching efficiency are required to explain the same cross-country variation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2023 Elsevier) ((en))

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Davoine, Thomas (2023): Flexicurity, education and optimal labour market policies. In: Labour, Jg. 37, H. 4, S. 592-625. DOI:10.1111/labr.12255

Abstract

"The paper provides a theoretical rationale for flexicurity policies, consisting of low employment protection, generous unemployment insurance and active labor market programmes. Education efforts give access to high productivity firms, more likely to survive and thus exposing less their workers to unemployment risk. Activation programmes support reallocation from risky and unproductive to safer and more productive firms, reducing unemployment. Low employment protection can provide incentives for self-insurance against unemployment risk through education, mitigating the moral hazard cost of unemployment insurance and activation programmes. The paper identifies conditions for flexicurity to be optimal and confronts theoretical predictions to the data." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Destefanis, Sergio, Matteo Fragetta & Nazzareno Ruggiero (2023): Active and passive labor-market policies: the outlook from the Beveridge curve. In: Applied Economics, Jg. 55, H. 55, S. 6538-6550. DOI:10.1080/00036846.2022.2159010

Abstract

"Following a panel ARDL approach, we appraise the impact of various indicators of active and passive labor-market policies within the framework of the Beveridge curve across fourteen OECD countries from 1985 to 2013, controlling for other factors, both institutional (tax wedge) and structural (technological progress, globalization). We embed the role of these variables within the specification of the Beveridge curve, finding that the generosity of unemployment benefits has a detrimental impact on labor-market matching, with the duration of benefits and the strictness of the rules pertaining to the deployment of benefits taking a key role in driving this result. Among active labor-market policies, employment incentives and especially training have a favourable effect on matching. There is evidence of a virtuous interaction between active and passive policies. A significantly detrimental role emerges for the tax wedge. These results are consistent across various specifications, and structural relationships are stable throughout the 2008–2013 period." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Frericks, Patricia & Martin Gurín (2023): Family as a redistributive principle of welfare states: An international comparison. In: Journal of European Social Policy, Jg. 33, H. 1, S. 52-66. DOI:10.1177/09589287221115670

Abstract

"Educational gradients in parental leave length are opposite for women and men: highly educated women return to work faster than those with low education while highly educated men are absent longer than less educated men. Explanations for the opposite gradients are typically made at the individual- or couple-level. To date, no quantitative study has documented whether the opposite educational gradients hold also within workplaces. In this study, we use employer-employee matched Swedish register data with fixed-effects models to examine whether the educational gradient applies also among co-workers in the same workplace. The results show that three-quarters of the educational effect typically attributed to the individual father disappeared when comparing fathers within workplaces. The educational gradient of mothers remained largely unchanged. These findings provide the first population-level evidence for the primacy of the workplace in determining fathers? care choices." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))" (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gallagher, Patrick & Ray Griffin (2023): (in) Accuracy in Algorithmic Profiling of the Unemployed – An Exploratory Review of Reporting Standards. In: Social Policy and Society, S. 1-14. DOI:10.1017/S1474746423000428

Abstract

"Public Employment Services (PES) increasingly use automated statistical profiling algorithms (ASPAs) to ration expensive active labour market policy (ALMP) interventions to those they predict at risk of becoming long-term unemployed (LTU). Strikingly, despite the critical role played by ASPAs in the operation of public policy, we know very little about how the technology works, particularly how accurate predictions from ASPAs are. As a vital first step in assessing the operational effectiveness and social impact of ASPAs, we review the method of reporting accuracy. We demonstrate that the current method of reporting a single measure for accuracy (usually a percentage) inflates the capabilities of the technology in a peculiar way. ASPAs tend towards high false positive rates, and so falsely identify those who prove to be frictionally unemployed as likely to be LTU. This has important implications for the effectiveness of spending on ALMPs." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gallo, Giovanni & Michele Raitano (2023): SOS incomes: simulated effects of COVID-19 and emergency benefits on individual and household income distribution in Italy. In: Journal of European Social Policy, Jg. 33, H. 1, S. 101-116. DOI:10.1177/09589287221115672

Abstract

"Many countries have been working on revising their long-term care (LTC) policies to meet the increasing demand for care. Generally, little attention is paid to the potential (unintended) consequences of LTC policies for inequality among care users or informal caregivers. Saraceno previously explicitly argued that differences in care use and provision depend on the type of LTC policy, and that policies with contrasting consequences for inequality can be implemented at the same time. We call upon future research to empirically test the impact of different types of LTC policies on socio-economic inequalities in care. To stimulate and facilitate such research, our aims are to outline theoretical arguments for the differential impact of LTC policies on socio-economic inequalities in care and to create macro-level indicators for different types of supportive LTC policies in European countries over time. Our study’s research question is: Can we find and capture different dimensions of LTC policies in macro-level indicators that are comparable over countries and time? In particular, we focus on supported familialism (for example, informal caregiver support), supported defamilialization through the market (for example, in-cash benefits for care users), and defamilialization through public provision (for example, availability of beds in residential care). Besides a summary of the literature on LTC policies and how they may affect socio-economic inequalities in care, we outline our search process for macro-level LTC indicators and present descriptive information on the different types of LTC policies and their correlations. We discuss the difficulties that arise when translating theoretical insights about different types of LTC policies into high-quality measures for many countries and time points." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))" (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Garcia-Cabo, Joaquin, Anna Lipinska & Gaston Navarro (2023): Sectoral shocks, reallocation, and labor market policies. In: European Economic Review, Jg. 156. DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104494

Abstract

"Unemployment insurance and wage subsidies are key tools to support labor markets in recessions. We develop a multisector search-and-matching model with on-the-job human capital accumulation to study labor market policy responses to sector-specific shocks. Our calibration accounts for structural differences in labor markets between the United States and the euro area, including a lower job-finding rate in the latter. We use the model to evaluate unemployment insurance and wage subsidy policies in recessions of different duration. After a temporary sector-specific shock, unemployment insurance improves reallocation toward productive sectors at the cost of initially higher unemployment and, thus, human capital destruction. By contrast, wage subsidies reduce unemployment and preserve human capital at the cost of limiting reallocation. In the United States, unemployment insurance is preferred to wage subsidies when it does not distort job creation for too long. In the euro area, wage subsidies are preferred, given the lower job-finding rate and reallocation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2023 Elsevier) ((en))

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Hansen, Lasse Schmidt & Mathias Herup Nielsen (2023): Working Less, Not More in a Workfare Programme: Group Solidarity, Informal Norms and Alternative Value Systems Amongst Activated Participants. In: Journal of Social Policy, Jg. 52, H. 1, S. 46-62. DOI:10.1017/S0047279421000301

Abstract

"This article uses extensive ethnographic methods to explore the lived reality of a Danish workfare programme. The programme requires social assistance recipients to perform manual labour for their benefits at municipal work sites. The contrast between the political rhetoric that justifies the workfare programme and the lived reality of it is striking. While the programme is justified as a means to put the passive unemployed to work, there is a norm of working less, not more at the site. The participants spend most of their time waiting or conducting seemingly meaningless work assignments. However, over time, the majority of the participants begin to embrace this modus operandi at the site. This article answers this apparent paradox by turning to concepts from the anthropology of industrial work. Such concepts allow us to analyse how camaraderie exists amongst participants as well as work supervisors at the site. Particularly, the camaraderie is based on group solidarity, an informal regulation of work efficiency and an alternative system of value. Hereby, the article adds to previous findings on the ‘lived experiences’ of welfare recipients." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Holzer, Harry J. (2023): Can Workforce Development Help Us Reach Full Employment? (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 16624), Bonn, 24 S.

Abstract

"In this paper, I review the potential of workforce development programs to help the US get closer to "full employment." First, I provide some background on workforce development in the US, and also on the aggregate employment/labor force issues that workforce programs may or may not address. Then I review the empirical evidence on job training and other forms of workforce development, in terms of impacts on employment (as opposed to earnings). I briefly consider how the US experience in this regard compares and contrasts with that of other countries in the EU or OECD, and what we might learn from them. I conclude that more and better workforce development could help somewhat to achieve lower unemployment and higher labor force participation in the US, though we also need a range of other policies to achieve these goals." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Horn, Alexander, Anthony Kevins & Kees van Kersbergen (2023): The paternalist politics of punitive and enabling workfare: evidence from a new dataset on workfare reforms in 16 countries, 1980–2015. In: Socio-economic review, Jg. 21, H. 4, S. 2137-2166. DOI:10.1093/ser/mwac060

Abstract

"Does neoliberalism lie behind the increased use of social policy to control and incentivize labor market behavior? We argue that this assumed connection is theoretically weak and empirically inaccurate, and we point to an alternative explanation centered on government paternalism. Using a new comparative dataset on workfare reforms, we first describe how the overall balance of punitive and enabling demands placed on the unemployed has changed across 16 countries between 1980 and 2015. We observe a growing number of workfare reforms, modestly tilted towards the punitive side—but without a broad shift towards punitive workfare. We then assess the drivers of policy intervention, finding that government paternalism, rather than neoliberalism, helps us to understand which governments enact enabling and punitive measures. In line with our broader argument, we suggest that this reflects the moral (rather than economic) foundations of social policy." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Koelle, Michael (2023): Addressing labor market challenges for sustainable and inclusive growth in Israel. In: OECD Economic Surveys: Israel, Jg. 2023 Paris, Paris, S. 65-116. DOI:10.1787/727fa4b8-en

Abstract

"High employment growth has sustained Israel's high GDP growth in recent decades, but demographic change and labor market duality put future growth at risk. Policy action is required to stimulate employment and raise labor productivity, especially among population groups with weaker labor market outcomes. A particular concern is closing employment gaps of Haredim and Arab Israelis and ensuring gender equality in the workplace, which would simultaneously improve opportunities for all Israelis and the aggregate labor productivity of the economy. This will require setting appropriate work incentives and providing better support for working parents; improving skills at all stages of the learning cycle; as well as increasing mobility and improving reallocation towards high-productivity jobs and firms, in particular in the high-tech sector." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Papadopoulos, Orestis & Katy Jones (2023): Training in the age of liberalization and crisis: Understanding the learning experiences of young Active Labour Market Programme Participants. In: Social Policy and Administration, Jg. 57, H. 2, S. 219-234. DOI:10.1111/spol.12876

Abstract

"Vocational Training has been a prominent aspect of Active Labour Market Policy (ALMP) across EU member states, as part of efforts to boost the employability and human capital of young unemployed people and address new social risks arising within knowledge economies. However, young people's learning experiences of these programmes, and how these shape their early formative experiences in the labour market is underexplored. We address this gap by presenting new analysis of an extensive qualitative dataset, involving interviews with participants in Greece's Continuous Vocational Training (CVET) Program. Drawing on Unwin and Fuller's influential theory of restrictive and expansive learning environments which was developed through examination of formal apprenticeship programmes, we explore the extent to which these short-term vocational training programs provide meaningful learning and work experiences for young people. We show that vocational training facilitated through ALMPs is often experienced as restrictive, underpinned by a lack of meaningful training, occupation-specific skills, supportive guidance and quality employment prospects. Furthermore, we show how ALMPs in such contexts not only fail to support young people, but they also reinforce and legitimize precarious work practices by socializing the younger generation of workers into low-pay, temporary and routine jobs." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Peters, Marjolein (2023): European Network of Public Employment Services: Trends in PES - Assessment Report on PES Capacity 2022. (Trends in PES / European Network of Public Employment Services 2022), Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 74 S. DOI:10.2767/908915

Abstract

"The report provides an overview of key trends in the development of PES, describing aspects of their capacity and the client services they offer. It is based on PES replies to the annual PES Capacity survey received from 32 PES in July and August 2022. This year, specific information was collected on the cooperation of PES with municipalities and how PES use outsourcing to work with other actors in the labour market ecosystem. Two more important additional topics this year are the impact of the pandemic (continuing from the 2021 report) and the support PES provide to jobseekers from Ukraine." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Reiter, Renate (2023): Critical infrastructure of social and labour market integration: Capacitating the implementation of social service policies to the long-term unemployed in Germany and France? In: European Journal of Social Security, Jg. 25, H. 2, S. 158-177. DOI:10.1177/13882627231187609

Abstract

"Active social and employment services are a crucial infrastructure of the welfare state. As these services are designed to help people in need of support to overcome periods of insecurity in their life course, their effective provision has also been seen as an element of the implementation of the social investment (SI) welfare state. However, the transition to the SI state is linked to numerous preconditions. This is especially true with regard to vulnerable people like the long-term unemployed (LTU). The provision of social services that meet the specific needs of this group requires the actors responsible for implementing social and employment policies to have adequate operative capacities. This article compares Germany and France as two European welfare states that – confronted with persistently high long-term unemployment – have taken different reform paths over the last 20 years that partly run counter to their political-administrative systemic conditions and governance traditions to meet this challenge. Empirically, the article draws on a systematic content analysis of selected policy documents and secondary literature. It is shown that the recent German reform path of combining central steering responsibility with local scope for action can be a way to come closer to a social investment-oriented service policy for the LTU. However, the article also reveals that neither state (yet) has the necessary operative capacities for a shift towards an SI state. Overall, the changes in the understanding of the SI paradigm and the welfare state's constant reluctance to invest in implementation capacity make its sustainable application unlikely." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Intersentia, Ltd.) ((en))

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Schönherr, Daniel & Harald Glaser (2023): Zwischen Fördern und Fordern: Auswirkungen individueller Beratungs- und Vermittlungsstrategien auf die Beschäftigungschancen arbeitsuchender Menschen. (AMS-Info / Arbeitsmarktservice Österreich 578), Wien, 3 S.

Abstract

"Aus dem einleitenden Teil: "Die vorliegende Studie im Auftrag der Abt. Arbeitsmarktforschung und Berufsinformation (ABI) sowie der Abt. Service für Arbeitsuchende (SfA) des AMS Österreich geht der Frage nach, wie Berater:innen des AMS potenzielle Spielräume in der Beratung individuell nutzen, um ihre Kund:innen bei der Suche nach einer neuen Beschäftigung zu unterstützen. Darüber hinaus analysiert die Studie die Auswirkungen dieser individuellen Beratungs- und Vermittlungsstrategien auf die Wiederbeschäftigungschancen von arbeitsuchenden Menschen in Österreich. Anknüpfend an bisherige Evaluierungen der Beratungssituation am AMS, die zuletzt vor allem die Betreuungsrelation und Kontakthäufigkeit zwischen Berater:innen und Kund:innen in den Blick nahmen, unternimmt die Studie erstmals für Österreich den Versuch, die Wirkweise unterschiedlicher Arten von Beratung und Vermittlung, die Arbeitslose am AMS erfahren, zu quantifizieren. Methodisch wurde darüber hinaus untersucht, ob und inwieweit Daten aus einer standardisierten Befragung von Berater:innen des AMS mit administrativen Daten ihrer Kund:innen verknüpft und derart aufbereitet werden können, dass statistische Aussagen über etwaige Einflussfaktoren der Beratung auf die Wiederbeschäftigungschancen Arbeitsloser gewonnen werden können. (...)" (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Siddique, Abu Bakkar (2023): Job market polarization and American poverty. In: Journal for labour market research, Jg. 57. DOI:10.1186/s12651-023-00356-5

Abstract

"The article posits that the puzzles of stagnating poverty rates amidst high growth and declining unemployment in the United States can be substantially explained by polarized job markets characterized by job quality and job distribution. In recent decades, there has been an increased number of poor-quality jobs and an unequal distribution of jobs in the developed world, particularly in the United States. I have calculated measures of uneven job distribution indices that account for the distribution of jobs across households. A higher value of the uneven job distribution indices implies that there are relatively large numbers of households with multiple employed people and households with no employed people. Similarly, poor-quality jobs are those jobs that do not offer full-time work. Two-way fixed-effect models estimate that higher uneven job distribution across households worsens aggregated poverty at the state level. Similarly, good-quality jobs help households escape poverty, whereas poor-quality jobs do not. This paper suggests that eradicating poverty requires the government to direct labor market policies to be tailored more toward distributing jobs from individuals to households and altering bad jobs into good jobs, rather than merely creating more jobs in the economy. This paper contributes by elaborating on relations of employment and poverty, addressing employment quality and distribution, and providing empirical evidence." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Smedsvik, Bård & Roberto Iacono (2023): (In)visible Sanctions: Micro-level Evidence on Compulsory Activation for Young Welfare Recipients. In: Journal of Social Policy, S. 1-21. DOI:10.1017/S0047279423000338

Abstract

"Since the early years of activation and workfare in the 1990s, the use of welfare conditionality and benefit sanctions has been proposed among the necessary solutions to ensure the efficiency of welfare policy by reinforcing individual economic incentives. Using rich administrative registers from Norway, we produce micro-level quantitative evidence on compulsory activation for young recipients of social assistance. The empirical challenge is that activation through the threat of benefit sanctions is not a feature that unambiguously emerges from observational data, except for when sanctions indeed take place and benefits are reduced. To overcome this barrier, we introduce a novel methodology to identify individual-level effects of activation on young welfare recipients, exploiting municipal variation in the introduction of compulsory activation. More precisely, we study whether individuals who are residents in municipalities that have introduced compulsory activation display a stronger relationship between their labor market status (activation) and their benefit size (because sanctions being in place) compared to individuals residing in municipalities where activation has not been made compulsory. Our results show that there is no different relationship between social assistance benefits and passive labor market status for individuals living in municipalities that practice activation compared with individuals residing in municipalities in which activation is not yet mandatory. In other words, there is no visible effect of sanctions for passive recipients." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Strittmatter, Anthony (2023): What is the value added by using causal machine learning methods in a welfare experiment evaluation? In: Labour Economics, Jg. 84. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2023.102412

Abstract

"Recent studies have proposed causal machine learning (CML) methods to estimate conditional average treatment effects (CATEs). In this study, I investigate whether CML methods add value compared to conventional CATE estimators by re-evaluating Connecticut’s Jobs First welfare experiment. This experiment entails a mix of positive and negative work incentives. Previous studies show that it is hard to tackle the effect heterogeneity of Jobs First by means of CATEs. I report evidence that CML methods can provide support for the theoretical labor supply predictions. Furthermore, I document reasons why some conventional CATE estimators fail and discuss the limitations of CML methods." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2024 Elsevier) ((en))

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Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos & Georgios Voucharas (2023): Firm Closures and Labor Market Policies in Europe. Evidence from Retrospective Longitudinal Data. (GLO discussion paper / Global Labor Organization 1288), Essen, 35 S.

Abstract

"We examine the impact of active and passive labor market policies expenditures on the probability of re-employment, re-employment duration, unemployment duration, and re-employment wages in the case of job displacements due to firm closures. We use retrospective homogeneous longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and OECD data for 24 countries over the period 1985-2017 and we operate within alternative econometric frameworks. Our findings suggest that, in contrast to passive labor market policies, investing in active labor market policies increases the re-employment probability and the re-employment duration, reduces the risk of staying unemployed, and leads to higher wages at the lower end of the conditional wage distribution. Passive labor market policies estimates offset active labor market estimates and their interaction effect is always negative, but complementarities effects are found for Northern countries. By breaking down active and passive labor market policies into eight subcomponents, our results indicate that they have significant heterogeneous effects within and across labor market outcomes. Further, expenditures on labor market policies vary substantially across regions. For instance, active labor market policies have a stronger impact for Eastern countries, whereas passive labor market policies such as out-of-work income has a positive impact for Southern countries. Further, females are found to benefit more from active labor market policies in terms of re-employment probability, duration of re-employment, and risk of unemployment, but not in terms of wages, compared to males. Policymakers may consider the importance of implementing diverse reforms tailored to different countries and groups to enhance the effectiveness of labor market policies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Valizade, Danat, Jo Ingold & Mark Stuart (2023): Employer Participation in Active Labour Market Policies in the United Kingdom and Denmark: The Effect of Employer Associations as Social Networks and the Mediating Role of Collective Voice. In: Work, Employment and Society, Jg. 37, H. 4, S. 991-1012. DOI:10.1177/09500170211063094

Abstract

"Active labour market policies (ALMPs) have evolved as pivotal social policy instruments designed to place the unemployed and other disadvantaged groups in sustainable employment. Yet, little is known about what drives employer participation in such initiatives. This article provides a nuanced account of the socio-economic aspects of the demand-side of ALMPs, by investigating employer embeddedness in wider social networks created by employer associations and employee collective voice as enabling mechanisms for employer participation in ALMPs. Drawing on an original survey of employers in the United Kingdom (UK) and Denmark, we found that the extent of employer embeddedness in such social networks is positively associated with employer participation in the UK but not in Denmark, where the effect was indirect and mediated through collective bargaining. The effects of employer network ties and employee collective voice affirm the importance of a more integrated analysis of the interactions between network ties and institutions in ALMP research." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Álvarez, Ignacio, Jesús Cruces & Francisco Trillo (2023): Radical Change and Institutional Resilience: The Case of Labour Market Reforms in Southern Europe. In: Work, Employment and Society, Jg. 37, H. 6, S. 1517-1543. DOI:10.1177/09500170221090166

Abstract

"Over the last decade southern European labour markets have been transformed in a common neoliberal direction, as a consequence of the reforms enacted after the 2008 financial crisis. In our research we investigate to what extent these labour market reforms, aimed at promoting a radical decentralisation of collective bargaining, have actually led to such change. For that purpose, we developed a comparative study of Spain and Portugal, using the notions of path dependency and socio-political coalitions developed by historical institutionalism. Our study leads to the conclusion that institutional trajectories resulting from these labour market reforms merge profound changes with significant resilience. The neoliberal transformations of southern European labour markets have not led to the emergence of new bargaining models, nor to an institutional convergence towards the decentralised collective bargaining systems of liberal market economies. Rather, these reforms have triggered a disorganised fragmentation of collective bargaining systems, resulting in a lack of institutional coherence." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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(2023): Joint Employment Report 2024. Commission proposal. (Joint employment report), Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 165 S. DOI:10.2767/17157

Abstract

"The Joint Employment Report (JER) by the European Commission and the Council monitors the employment situation in the Union and the implementation of the Employment Guidelines, in line with Article 148 of the TFEU. The report provides an annual overview of key employment and social developments in the Union and of Member States’ recent policy measures, in line with the Guidelines for the Employment Policies of the Member States. It also identifies related key priority areas for policy action. Chapter 1 of the report presents an overview of key employment and social trends and of progress made on the 2030 EU headline and national targets, as well as horizontal findings based on the principles of the Social Convergence Framework (SCF). Chapter 2 analyses challenges and policy responses in the Member States for each of the four employment guidelines. Chapter 3 provides country-specific analysis for all Member States in line with the principles of the SCF. Based on the Commission’s proposal, and following exchanges in the relevant Council advisory committees, the final text will be adopted by the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council. Addressing the challenges identified in the report will contribute to achieving upward social convergence, strengthen the Union’s drive towards fair green and digital transitions and contribute to facing demographic change, as well as the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the implementation of the Union of Equality Strategies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

"The EU labor market policy (LMP) database collects information about government actions to help people with a disadvantage in the labor market, primarily by facilitating and supporting transitions from unemployment or inactivity into employment. This can take the form of financial support – such as unemployment benefits – or practical support ranging from basic guidance services to the provision of training, work experience and other actions aimed at improving a persons’ employability. It also includes incentives for employers to take on people from defined target groups. In the LMP database these actions are referred to as interventions. The LMP data are collected annually from administrative sources in each country on the basis of a comprehensive methodology that provides detailed guidelines for the collection of data: which interventions to cover; how to classify interventions by type of action; how to measure the expenditure associated with each intervention; and how to measure the number of participants. The aim of collecting this data is to serve as tool for policy analysts and policy makers to gain a clear understanding of the labor market policies provided in the EU and facilitate well informed decision-making. LMP data is used both in routine monitoring and benchmarking frameworks employed by the European Commission to identify key trends and challenges across the EU Member States and in analysis supporting a range of European policy initiatives. This note presents an analysis of the latest available LMP statistics. It includes sections providing an overview of the key data available for 2019, analysis of LMP based indicators, and an examination of insights data on different type of intervention can provide for key EU policy initiatives. Readers are recommended to refer to information on the characteristics of LMP statistics provided in Annex 1 to aid understanding of the data presented." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

"Drawing on an extensive analysis of secondary literature, numerous country case studies, and the ILO's 2021 survey encompassing 94 public employment services worldwide, this report sheds light on significant insights. The report underscores that the integration of employment services within a comprehensive policy and legal framework, coupled with continuous capacity-building efforts, leads to enhanced effectiveness and long-term sustainability. Moreover, the report emphasizes the importance of synergies and harmonization between employment services, active labor market policies, social protection policies, and systems. It delves into the modernization of public employment services, extending beyond mere digitalization, by advocating for a holistic approach that assists clients in overcoming labor market and other obstacles. The report also advocates for partnerships with other labor market institutions, training organizations, and social protection entities to broaden their reach and impact." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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(2023): Quarterly Review of Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) - November 2023. (Employment and social developments in Europe : quarterly review), Luxembourg, 19 S.

Abstract

"ESDE quarterly reviews periodically provide an overview of recent social and labour market developments in the EU, accompanied by specific thematic analyses. The thematic part of this review focuses on the impact of demographic changes on labour market outcomes and the potential of pension reforms to counteract these projected trends. This is an important topic in the context of demographic change in the EU over the next decades and the corresponding impact on employment rate, economic dependency ratio and social security contributions. Looking at pension reforms, the thematic focus shows that increasing the statutory and effective retirement age can play an important role for addressing the impending challenges stemming from population ageing and decline. It can at least in part mitigate the impact of ageing on employment and economic dependency. Nevertheless, it is also highlighted that a more comprehensive approach encompassing broader labour market reforms may be required to ensure the financial stability of social security systems in the long term, given the projected increases of recipients paired with higher social security contributions per employed person." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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(2023): Annual report 2022 / European Network of Public Employment Services (PES). (Annual report … / European Network of Public Employment Services), Luxembourg, 25 S. DOI:10.2767/54453

Abstract

"The 2022 Work Program of the PES Network was designed to be implemented in a challenging context, whereby pre-existing labor market trends have been hastened by the COVID crisis. The actual context proved to be even more demanding. While unemployment remained at record low levels, labor shortages grew across many sectors. PES were furthermore called upon when millions of Ukrainians fled their country, and so far more than 4 million registrations for temporary protection1 have been recorded in the EU. In the wake of a potential recession, PES’ expectations for short term developments in employment and unemployment levels (as measured by the European Labor Market Barometer) have fallen consistently since May, to reach levels comparable to the height of the COVID 19 crisis. Overall, the Network was able to implement more than 20 activities in 2022, including some in addition to those planned, to support PES in helping displaced people from Ukraine." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

"The EU labor market policy (LMP) database collects information about government actions to help people with a disadvantage in the labor market, primarily by facilitating and supporting transitions from unemployment or inactivity into employment. This can take the form of financial support – such as unemployment benefits – or practical support ranging from basic guidance services to the provision of training, work experience and other actions aimed at improving a persons’ employability. It also includes incentives for employers to take on people from defined target groups. In the LMP database these actions are referred to as interventions. The LMP data are collected annually by a network of national delegates from administrative sources in each country on the basis of a comprehensive methodology that provides detailed guidelines on: which interventions to cover; how to classify interventions by type of action; how to measure the expenditure associated with each intervention; and how to measure the number of participants. The LMP data serve to inform analysts and policy makers about the labour market policies provided in the EU Member States and provide an evidence base for further development of policy. LMP data are used in routine monitoring and benchmarking frameworks adopted by the European Commission to identify key trends and challenges across the EU Member States and in analysis supporting a range of European policy initiatives. This note presents an analysis of the latest available LMP statistics. It includes an overview of the key data available for 2020 and an analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the provision of LMP in the Member States. Readers are recommended to refer to information on the characteristics of LMP statistics provided in Annex 1 to aid understanding of the data presented." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Anghel, Liliana-Luminita (2022): European Network of Public Employment Services: 2022 PES Capacity Questionnaire Part II: Labour market training for the long-term unemployed. Survey-based Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 50 S. DOI:10.2767/07742

Abstract

"As part of its 2022 work program, the European Network of Public Employment Services (PES) continues the monitoring of the implementation of the Council Recommendation on the integration of the long term unemployed into the labor market. The report complements the quantitative and qualitative monitoring done by EMCO, and provides input to the EMCO multilateral surveillance. It mainly focuses on PES delivery of labor market training to LTUs to improve their ability to access jobs in the changing labor market. The findings are based on responses to a survey provided by 32 PES in 26 EU member States plus Iceland and Norway. The report shows that PES put a lot of efforts into organizing and delivering the labor market training to LTUs to improve their access to jobs, even in a challenging period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report also includes some issues for further consideration when planning and adjusting future training programs for LTUs (for instance related to lack of internet access and IT equipment, low digital skills, poor support networks)." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Aumond, Romain, Valerio Di Tommaso & Gerhard Rünstler (2022): A narrative database of labour market reforms in euro area economies. (Working paper series / European Central Bank 2657), Frankfurt am Main, 61 S.

Abstract

"We present a quarterly narrative database of important labour market reforms in selected euro area economies in between 1995 and 2018 covering 60 events. We provide legal adoption and implementation dates of major reforms to employment protection legislation and unemployment benefits. Estimates based on local projections find negative short-run effects of liberalising reforms on wages, while the employment effects of reforms differ markedly across age groups and partly depend on the state of the economy." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Berger, Eva M., Henning Hermes, Guenther Koenig, Felix Schmidt & Daniel Schunk (2022): Self-regulation training and job search input: A natural field experiment within an active labor market program. In: Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, Jg. 98. DOI:10.1016/j.socec.2022.101858

Abstract

"Evidence suggests that self-regulation abilities play an important role for the job finding success of unemployed persons. We conduct a randomized controlled trial embedded in an established labor market reactivation program to examine the effect of a self-regulation training on job search input of long-term unemployed participants. Our treatment involves teaching a self-regulation strategy based on mental contrasting with implementation intentions. We find that the treatment has a positive effect on the quality of application documents as well as on the probability of participants submitting their documents on time. However, we do not find a significant treatment effect on labor market reintegration. We discuss several reasons for this null finding and conduct further exploratory analyses to learn about heterogeneous treatment effects." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2022 Elsevier) ((en))

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Bertheau, Antoine, Edoardo Acabbi, Cristina Barceló, Andreas Gulyas, Stefano Lombardi & Raffaele Saggio (2022): The Unequal Cost of Job Loss across Countries. (IZA discussion paper 15033), Bonn, 49 S.

Abstract

"We document the consequences of losing a job across countries using a harmonized research design. Workers in Denmark and Sweden experience the lowest earnings declines following job displacement, while workers in Italy, Spain, and Portugal experience losses three times as high. French and Austrian workers face earnings losses somewhere in-between. Key to these differences is that Southern European workers are less likely to find employment following displacement. Loss of employer-specific wage premiums accounts for 40% to 95% of within-country wage declines. The use of active labor market policies predicts a significant portion of the cross-country heterogeneity in earnings losses." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Binder, Barbara & Andreas Haupt (2022): The fundamental role of tax systems in the relationship between workfare and inequality in the lower half of the income distribution. In: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Jg. 80. DOI:10.1016/j.rssm.2022.100712

Abstract

"In recent decades, many affluent democracies moved from traditional welfare states to workfare systems. Meanwhile, income inequality developed differently across countries, even when they made apparently similar shifts from welfare to workfare. It is a matter of debate why welfare state change had such heterogeneous consequences across countries. This article proposes that different incentives to take up low-wage work set by tax reforms in the wake of welfare-to-workfare transitions alter consequences on inequality in the lower half of the income distribution. To support this argument, we contrast the trends between the U.S. and Germany. The German and U.S. tax systems were used in very different ways to incentivize low-wage work. The U.S. provided strong incentives to take up low-wage, high-hour work through refundable tax credits. They act as in-work subsidies and represent an enormous public income support program. In contrast, in Germany, payroll taxes were reduced for marginal employment. These jobs were intended to serve as a stepping stone to full employment. Germany aimed to reduce barriers to labor market entry, but did not increase subsidies for those working higher hours in low-wage jobs. We hypothesize that the German path led to increased income inequality within the lower half of the income distribution, whereas the large U.S. tax-based subsidies in the U.S. significantly counteracted it. Decompositions of unconditional quantile regressions based on the SOEP and the CPS-ASEC for 1992 and 2014 strongly support these assumptions. Households with no labor market integration lost ground with the workfare reforms in both countries, increasing inequality in the lower half. However, U.S. households that conformed to the new workfare system by taking low-wage jobs received additional after-tax income through tax cuts and credits. This additional income of the beneficiary households increased the percentile values between the 10th and 30th percentiles by about 6 per cent, thus reducing income inequality in the lower half. Germany, on the contrary, lacked such compensatory subsidies for compliant households. Thus, increased take-up of low-wage work was associated with an increase in income inequality in the lower half. We conclude that tax systems are important in understanding why the shift towards workfare was associated with heterogeneous trends in income inequality across countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2022 Elsevier) ((en))

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Blank, Florian & Erik Türk (2022): Altersrenten und sozialer Ausgleich in Deutschland und Österreich – ein Vergleich anhand von Modellrechnungen. In: Sozialer Fortschritt, Jg. 71, H. 2, S. 139-163. DOI:10.3790/sfo.71.2.139

Abstract

"Die Gegenüberstellung der Rentenansprüche für einheitliche, idealtypische Biografien ermöglicht den Vergleich von Unterschieden der Rentensysteme selbst. Die von der OECD erstellten Modellbiografien mit durchgehenden Erwerbsverläufen, abschlagsfreiem Renteneintritt und stabilen Einkommenspositionen bilden den Ausgangspunkt für den Vergleich der Rentenversicherungen Deutschlands und Österreichs. Die Vorgehensweise der OECD wird dargestellt, sofern erforderlich korrigiert, aktualisiert und weiterentwickelt. Zusätzlich werden Arbeitslosigkeit, vorzeitiger Renteneintritt sowie Kindererziehungszeiten berücksichtigt. Durch diese Ergänzungen werden eine höhere Realitätsanbindung erreicht und Elemente des sozialen Ausgleichs einbezogen. Es zeigt sich, dass die österreichische Pensionsversicherung in jeder Konstellation deutlich höhere Leistungen gewährt, die Elemente des sozialen Ausgleichs den Abstand teils vergrößern, teils verringern." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Brandl, Sebastian & Thorsten Braun (2022): Arbeitsmarktnahe Integration von Langzeitarbeitslosen – Zur Relevanz von street-level organizations am Beispiel von Jobcentern in Dänemark und Deutschland. (Working paper / HdBA, Fachgruppe Soziologie und Arbeitsmarktpolitik 2), Mannheim ; Schwerin, 43 S.

Abstract

"Das Working Paper geht der Umsetzung dem in vielen europäischen Ländern feststellbaren Paradigmenwechsel hin zu einer arbeitsmarktnahen Integration insb. von Langzeitarbeitslosen nach. Arbeitsmarktnah meint Integration in geförderte und ungeförderte, weitgehend reguläre Beschäftigungsverhältnisse in privaten Unternehmen, in Verwaltungen und in gemeinnützigen Organisationen. Die Grundlage für das Working Paper bilden je zwei explorative Jobcenterfallstudien in Dänemark und Deutschland. In Erweiterung der street-level bureaucracy-Perspektive von Lipsky wird dabei der Rolle der street-level organizations bei der Implementation der neuen Policy nachgegangen. Gefragt wird unter Fokus auf Berkels ‚organizational context’ nach den strategischen, organisationalen und personellen Überlegungen und Umsetzungsschritten in den Jobcentern. In Dänemark läuft der Paradigmenwechsel auf eine umfassende, nicht friktionslose und nach Jobcenter unterschiedliche Neuausrichtung der Integrationsarbeit von einer sozialfachlichen zu einer Unternehmensorientierung hinaus. In Deutschland wird der Ansatz nur indirekt mittels Förderprogrammen und dem Teilhabechancengesetz und zumeist in Sonderteams umgesetzt. Gleicherweise ist jedoch ein ‚process of policy decentralization’ beobachtbar, der durch eine unterschiedliche ‚professionalization’ der Integrationsarbeit vor Ort ausgefüllt wird. Dabei haben die Entscheidungen des Managements erheblichen Einfluss nicht nur auf die Dienstleistung, sondern rahmen die Ermessensentscheidungen der Integrationsfachkräfte. In einem Fall konnte eine sehr weitgehende Übertragung des organisationalen Ermessensspielraum auf die Integrationsfachkräfte beobachtet werden. Strategien und Erfahrungen sowie Konstellationen und Managementorientierungen in den Jobcentern beeinflussen somit in erheblichem Maße die Umsetzung und Praxis der neuen Policy vor Ort. Mit Brodkin gesprochen bestätigt sich, das street-level organizations durch ihre Managemententscheidungen ‚de facto policymakers’ sind." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Chodorow-Reich, Gabriel, Peter Ganong & Jonathan Gruber (2022): Should We Have Automatic Triggers for Unemployment Benefit Duration And How Costly Would They Be? (NBER working paper 29703), Cambridge, Mass, 8 S. DOI:10.3386/w29703

Abstract

"We model automatic trigger policies for unemployment insurance by simulating a weekly panel of individual labor market histories, grouped by state. We reach three conclusions: (i) policies designed to trigger immediately at the onset of a recession result in benefit extensions that occur in less sick labor markets than the historical average for benefit extensions; (ii) the ad hoc extensions in the 2001 and 2007-09 recessions in total cover a similar number of additional weeks as common proposals for automatic triggers, but concentrate coverage more in weaker labor markets; (iii) compared to ex post policy, the cost of common proposals for automatic triggers is close to zero." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Clasen, Jochen & Clara Mascaro (2022): Activation: a thematic and conceptual review. In: Journal of European Social Policy, Jg. 32, H. 4, S. 484-494. DOI:10.1177/09589287221089477

Abstract

"Activation as a social policy topic has been investigated since the late 1990s and continues to be popular in academic analysis and discourse. In this review, we highlight the wide range of research aims and themes covered within relevant publications. We also identify a considerable degree of conceptual inconsistency and ambiguity across the literature. Informed by methodological considerations, we conclude by suggesting a parsimonious root concept of activation which would allow for a more consistent and less ambiguous application within and across different levels of analysis." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cockx, Bart, Koen Declercq & Muriel Dejemeppe (2022): Losing Prospective Entitlement to Unemployment Benefits. Impact on Educational Attainment. (CESifo working paper 9852), München, 30 S.

Abstract

"Providing income support to unemployed education-leavers reduces the returns to investments in education because it makes the consequences of unemployment less severe. We evaluate a two-part policy reform in Belgium to study whether conditioning the prospective entitlement to unemployment benefits for education-leavers on age or schooling attainment can affect educational achievements. The results show that the prospect of financial loss in case of unemployment can significantly raise degree completion and reduce dropout in higher education, but not in high school. We argue that the higher prevalence of behavioral biases among lower educated and younger students could explain these contrasting findings." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Davern, Eamonn & John McGrath (2022): European Network of Public Employment Services: Stakeholder Conference "Jointly addressing labor and skills shortages, preparing for Europe's Future Labor Market" 7-8 April 2022. Synthesis paper. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 24 S. DOI:10.2767/591555

Abstract

"The conference converged around three main strategic priorities to address skill shortages and mismatches: (1) enhancing the attractiveness of certain regions, sectors and occupations; (2) assisting people from groups suffering labor market discrimination; (3) enhancing the effectiveness of labor market interventions. Conference participants consistently raised digitalisation as a major challenge and opportunity within the labor market. Different strategies emerged such as customized training and upskilling courses, active participation of employers, personal and individual support programs, innovative and non-traditional arrangements. Lifelong guidance was highlighted as increasingly important, whereby workers need ongoing coaching and guidance. The conference showed how PES are making increasing use of stakeholder partnerships as part of a delivery ecosystem to address labour and skills shortages. Partnerships can bring specialist knowledge to help meet shortages and access untapped potential." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Davern, Eamonn (2022): European Network of Public Employment Services: PES support to recovery. (Thematic Paper / European Network of Public Employment Services), Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 22 S. DOI:10.2767/847911

Abstract

"This paper provides an overview of the key questions and issues for Public Employment Services in determining how best to assist labour market recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It draws upon existing promising practices and academic research, as well as the discussions held in a Thematic Review Workshop in the Network on 9-10 November 2021. Member States have introduced a wide range of measures to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on employment. Despite these initiatives the longer-term challenges from structural labor market changes remain. The report highlights that to further succeed, PES need to learn from emergency measures applied during the crisis, identifying those which could be adopted for permanent use, consistently reviewing their institutional strength and corporate resilience. This will require agility with rapid responses to emerging trends, sufficient capacity, appropriate tools, and required competencies to support unemployed people through profound labour market changes. Liaison with partners will become increasingly important and need to be regularly reviewed to identify where new partnerships are needed. PES will need to support improved labor market function through promoting employment in growing sectors of the economy, particularly digital and green jobs, facilitating occupational and geographical mobility, including through training and upskilling, and supporting the agenda for longer working lives." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Eichhorst, Werner, Paul Marx, Ulf Rinne & Johannes Brunner (2022): Job Retention Schemes during COVID-19: A Review of Policy Responses. (IZA policy paper 187), Bonn, 33 S.

Abstract

"This policy brief provides an update on job retention policies in a sample of 20 countries representing the main world regions as well as the diverse types of job retention schemes, in particular short-time work, furlough and wage subsidy schemes as they have been implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We show the diversity of these policies as well as the available information about their (re-)design as the pandemic evolved up to the most recent period. The policy brief raises main issues regarding the implementation and adaptation of job retention policies and illustrated this with four case studies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Eichhorst, Werner, Paul Marx, Ulf Rinne & Johannes Brunner (2022): Promoting Youth Employment During COVID-19: A Review of Policy Responses. (IZA policy paper 188), Bonn, 32 S.

Abstract

"Economic and social disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis have particularly affected younger people, and therefore policy should respond with measures, programmes and initiatives targeted at this population group. Next to broader labour market and economic measures, which ultimately also benefit younger people, youth-targeted measures are needed given the specific impacts of the pandemic and resulting challenges. Against this background, this policy brief gives an overview on actual policy responses in the area of youth employment during the COVID-19 crisis in 20 selected countries. If such measures are implemented, they share the common goals of reducing the negative impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on younger workers and avoiding long-term scarring effects. However, the precise nature, extent and scope of such measures substantially differ across countries. Given the fragility and large uncertainty of economic recovery that is still present in early 2022, broader policy support continues to be needed, including specific policy measures targeting youth." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Genova, Angela & Eamonn Davern (2022): European Network of Public Employment Services: Practitioner toolkit on strengthening PES to improve the labor market outcomes of persons with disabilities. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 54 S. DOI:10.2767/034981

Abstract

"This toolkit provides Public Employment Services (PES) with practice-oriented knowledge to improve labor market outcomes for persons with disabilities. This toolkit provides a practical guide, with concrete examples, for how Public Employment Services (PES) can promote the participation of persons with disabilities in the labor market. The accessible toolkit intends to support PES in their role as key agents for the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). It is a deliverable of the European Commission’s new Disability Employment Package - a flagship initiative of the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030, as well as their own ambition to meet the needs of different client groups. The objective of the toolkit is to provide PES with information and advice on strategies and practices to support them in combatting labor market discrimination against persons with disabilities and further their effective labor market participation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Haapanala, Henri (2022): Carrots or sticks? A multilevel analysis of active labour market policies and non-standard employment in Europe. In: Social Policy and Administration, Jg. 56, H. 3, S. 360-377. DOI:10.1111/spol.12770

Abstract

"Spending on active labour market policies (ALMPs) has increased across Europe following the 2007 flexicurity strategy which emphasised smooth and rapid transitions from unemployment to work. Despite broad scholarly coverage of the activation turn, the connection between labour market policies and changes in non-standard employment remains unclear. Applying random effects within-between regression analysis, this paper finds that coercive, ‘hard’ ALMP instruments incentivising rapid re-employment with the threat of withdrawing unemployment benefits are associated with higher likelihood of involuntary part-time employment, whereas supportive, ‘soft’ ALMP strategies with a focus on upskilling and public sector occupation are associated with higher voluntary but lower involuntary part-time employment. The results from 25 countries over two decades shed light on the heterogeneous results of past ALMP research which has not adopted a consistent line on the supportive-coercive dichotomy. With European employment policy increasingly applying hard activation instruments to achieve full employment, an unintended consequence might be the expansion of precarious employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Hansen, Magnus Paulsen, Peter Triantafillou, Benedetta Bellò, Jan Boon, Dries Van Doninck, James Downe, Cate Hopkins, Erik Hans Klijn, Külli Sarapuu, Vidar Stevens & Koen Verhoest (2022): Accounting for what and to whom? Accountability tensions in collaborations addressing long-term unemployment. In: Social Policy and Administration, Jg. 56, H. 7, S. 1156-1171. DOI:10.1111/spol.12846

Abstract

"Across Europe, public employment services are experimenting with more holistic and cross-sector collaborations to tackle the wicked problem of long-term unemployment. These collaborations operate in a context characterised by tensions produced by multiple demands for accountability. Based on case studies of the accountability relations and challenges in five such collaborations in the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders), Estonia, Scotland and Denmark, we found that: rigorous use of quantifiable measurement regimes made it difficult to attribute salience to important aspects of the progress made by the unemployed citizen; standardised accounts come with the risk of reductionist understandings of the citizen's social circumstances and resources; superficial participation by local politicians resulted in rather weak political accountability and a marked ambiguity of the role of the client as both accountee and accountholder." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Hartley, Robert Paul, Carlos Lamarche & James P. Ziliak (2022): Welfare Reform and the Intergenerational Transmission of Dependence. In: Journal of Political Economy, Jg. 130, H. 3, S. 523-565. DOI:10.1086/717893

Abstract

"We investigate the effect of welfare reform on intergenerational welfare participation, using mother-daughter pairs in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We find that a mother’s AFDC/TANF participation increased her daughter’s odds of adult participation in that program by roughly 25 percentage points or more, but that welfare reform attenuated this transmission by at least 50 percent. However, there is no diminution of transmission after welfare reform when we consider the wider safety net or other outcomes. Daughters who grew up with mothers on AFDC/TANF were no better off after reform, with substitution toward other welfare programs over generations." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Immervoll, Herwig, Rodrigo Fernández, Raphaela Hyee, Jongmi Lee & Daniele Pacifico (2022): De-facto gaps in social protection for standard and non-standard workers. An approach for monitoring the accessibility and levels of income support. (OECD social, employment and migration working papers 271), Paris, 42 S. DOI:10.1787/48e282e7-en

Abstract

"Social protection systems play a key stabilising role for individuals and societies, especially in the recent context of heightened uncertainties. This paper proposes a new empirical approach for quantifying the accessibility and value of income transfers following an earnings loss. The approach allows to estimate and monitor gaps in the accessibility and value of social transfers between so-called “standard” and “non-standard” workers. It first presents a methodology for assessing support levels for jobless individuals in specific circumstances that allows for comparisons across countries and over time. It then illustrates the approach using longitudinal survey data in 16 OECD countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Langenbucher, Kristine & Matija Vodopivec (2022): Paying for results: Contracting out employment services through outcome-based payment schemes in OECD countries. (OECD social, employment and migration working papers 267), Paris: OECD Publishing, 53 S. DOI:10.1787/c6392a59-en

Abstract

"OECD countries deliver publicly-funded employment services through different institutional arrangements. While in most OECD countries the majority of such services are delivered by public employment services, in two in five OECD and EU countries (or regions) they are partly or fully contracted out to external providers, including for-profit and not-for-profit entities. Contracting out employment services to outside providers offers many potential benefits: an increased flexibility to scale capacity in line with changes in unemployment, the possibility of offering services more cost-effectively, the option to better tailor services through the use of specialised service providers and the possibility to offer jobseekers choice of providers. However, achieving these benefits will depend on the actual design and monitoring of the contracting arrangements that are put in place. Focusing on the job brokerage, counselling and case-management employment services typically provided by public agencies, this paper reviews the experiences of OECD countries that have contracted out employment services through outcome-based payment schemes. It highlights the need to carefully consider questions related to the design and implementation of this form of contracting: fostering competition amongst potential providers, setting appropriate minimum service requirements and prices for different client groups, and ensuring the accountability of providers through monitoring and evaluations. These issues are discussed based on country examples, which are also detailed in factsheets contained in the online annex of the paper." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Leber, Ute, Thomas Kruppe, Franziska Schreyer & Tim-Felix Grabert (2022): Vorbild Österreich: Impulse für die Weiterbildungspolitik in Deutschland? (Podium). In: IAB-Forum H. 29.11.2022 Nürnberg, 2022-11-28. DOI:10.48720/IAB.FOO.20221129.01

Abstract

"Die Bundesregierung plant, die arbeitsmarktbezogene Weiterbildung von Beschäftigten verstärkt zu fördern. Sie beruft sich dabei in ihrem Koalitionsvertrag auf Österreich als Vorbild. Dort können Beschäftigte zu Weiterbildungszwecken schon seit Längerem mit finanzieller Unterstützung vom Staat eine berufliche Auszeit nehmen oder ihre Arbeitszeit reduzieren. Allerdings nehmen auch in Österreich Menschen, die einfache Tätigkeiten ausüben, vergleichsweise selten an Weiterbildung teil." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Rossetti, Federica, Bart Meuleman & Sharon Baute (2022): Explaining public support for demanding activation of the unemployed: The role of subjective risk perceptions and stereotypes about the unemployed. In: Journal of European Social Policy, Jg. 32, H. 5, S. 497-513. DOI:10.1177/09589287221106980

Abstract

"In recent decades, European welfare states have adopted demanding active labour market policies (ALMPs), aimed at increasing labour market participation through imposing stricter work-related obligations and benefit cuts in case of job offer rejection. This article investigates whether support for such demanding ALMPs is driven by risk perceptions of future unemployment and negative stereotypes about unemployed persons. Insights into the role of risk perceptions and stereotypes offer opportunities to gain a better understanding of the impact of structural variables. Drawing on data from the European Social Survey 2016 in 21 European countries, the analysis reveals that higher subjective risk of unemployment decreases support for these ALMPs substantially, whereas negative perceptions of the unemployed increase support. However, these factors play at the individual level only and do not explain country-level differences in support of demanding ALMPs. The notable cross-national variation in support of activation policies is found to be unrelated to economic factors and to the strictness of activation requirements for unemployment benefits." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Scruggs, Lyle A. & Gabriela Ramalho Tafoya (2022): Fifty years of welfare state generosity. In: Social Policy and Administration, Jg. 56, H. 5, S. 791-807. DOI:10.1111/spol.12804

Abstract

"This article describes an overview of key findings from the Comparative Welfare Entitlements Project (CWEP). CWEP compiles major features of the generosity of unemployment, sickness and public pension programs over the last several decades in 21 countries. Describing and extending earlier work to measure the institutional variation in major social insurance programs over time, we provide previously unpublished methodological details of widely used measures of program generosity; measures which have appeared in over 200 analyses during the last decade and a half. We find a high level of variation in wage replacement and benefit conditionality across programs in most countries; calling into question the notion of an historically stable configurations of characteristics, at least during the last 45 years. For instance, our research shows that several prototypical social democratic welfare states experienced the highest declines in generosity in the last three decades. Furthermore, we also show that, as late as the mid-1970s, some ‘social democratic’ welfare states still trailed some ‘conservative’ welfare states, including prototypical ones like Germany." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Villanueva, Ernesto & Effrosyni Adamopoulou (2022): Employment and wage effects of extending collective bargaining agreements. Sectoral collective contracts reduce inequality but may lead to job losses among workers with earnings close to the wage floors. (IZA world of labor 136), Bonn, 12 S. DOI:10.15185/izawol.136.v2

Abstract

"Der Gesamteffekt der Allgemeinverbindlichkeit von Tarifverträgen hängt davon ab, wie viele Arbeitsplätze aufgrund der tariflich geregelten Lohnuntergrenzen und sonstigen Arbeitsbedingungen abgebaut werden. Um die Auswirkungen auf Löhne und Beschäftigung bewerten zu können, müssen Informationen über Tarifverträge mit Längsschnittdaten zu Arbeitgebern und Arbeitnehmern verknüpft werden. Neue Erkenntnisse der Forschung zeigen, dass negative Effekte meist auf Arbeitnehmer mit Verdiensten in der Nähe der Mindestlöhne beschränkt sind. Öffnungsklauseln und Repräsentativitätserfordernisse können dem entgegenwirken." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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(2022): Employment and Social Developments in Europe - Quarterly Review October 2022. (Employment and social developments in Europe : quarterly review), Luxembourg, 23 S.

Abstract

"The October 2022 edition of the Employment and Social Developments Quarterly Review presents and discusses data that was mostly collected in the first half of 2022 and made available in the weeks ahead of publication of this review. The Russian unprovoked invasion of Ukraine that started on 24 February 2022 has caused immense human suffering, significantly disrupted global supply chains, and led to a dramatic rise of energy prices and an increase in inflation. This has caused an increase in the uncertainty for economic operators, worsening their expectations for future economic growth and employment. The thematic section of this review analyses the impact of rising prices on households in the EU." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

"The European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) provides financial support to promote a high level of quality and sustainable employment, guarantee adequate and decent social protection, combat social exclusion and poverty, and improve working conditions across the EU. With a view to the regular monitoring of the programme, the EaSI Regulation foresees that ‘the Commission shall draw up an initial qualitative and quantitative monitoring reports covering consecutive two-year periods. This is the fourth EaSI Performance Monitoring Report presenting the results achieved by the programme in 2019-2020. It focuses on the products (outputs) delivered by the programme and the benefits they brought in 2019-2020. Over the period 2019 and 2020, the Commission committed more than EUR 255 million towards implementation of the programme’s activities." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

"Although men and women are typically taxed under the same rules, their different social and economic characteristics (e.g. income levels or labour force participation) mean that the tax system can inadvertently contribute to gender inequalities in society. Understanding and improving the impact of taxes on gender equality is a key dimension that governments need to consider as part of tax design to support inclusive growth. This report provides the first cross-country overview of governments' approaches to tax policy and gender, including reforms undertaken to date and potential areas of explicit and implicit gender bias. Covering 43 countries, it also explores the extent to which governments take into account gender implications in policy development, gender considerations in tax administration and compliance, and the availability and use of gender-disaggregated data. Finally, it also discusses priorities for further work on tax policy and gender issues." (Author's abstract, © 2022 OECD) ((en))

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Bagger, Jesper, Espen R. Moen & Rune Majlund Vejlin (2021): Equilibrium Worker-Firm Allocations and the Deadweight Losses of Taxation. (IZA discussion paper 14865), Bonn, 57 S.

Abstract

"We analyse the deadweight losses of tax-induced labor misallocation in an equilibrium model of the labour market where workers search to climb a job ladder and firms post vacancies. Workers differ in abilities. Jobs differ in productivities and amenities. A planner uses affine tax functions to finance lump-sum transfers to all workers and unemployment benefits. The competitive search equilibrium maximizes after-tax utility subject to resource constraints and the tax policy. A higher tax rate distorts search effort, job ranking and vacancy creation. Distortions vary on the job ladder, but always result in deadweight losses. We calibrate the model using matched employer-employee data from Denmark. The marginal deadweight loss is 33 percent of the tax base, and primarily arise from distorted search effort and vacancy creation. Steeply rising deadweight losses from distorted vacancy creation imply that the deadweight loss in the calibrated economy exceeds those incurred by very inequality averse social planners." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bhaumik, Sumon Kumar, Richard Frensch & Stephan Huber (2021): Political economy of labor market institutions in a globalised era. (IOS working papers 391), Regensburg, 29 S.

Abstract

"The paper extends the literature on the political economy of labor market institutions by developing a framework in which owners of capital can benefit from both greater labor market flexibility and better rule of law. Their choice of location of manufacturing centres can, therefore, by influenced both by reduction in expropriation that is associated with better rule of law and greater bargaining power vis-à-vis workers by way of greater labor market flexibility. It follows that where owners of capital are better placed to influence government choices of these institutions, labor market flexibility is influenced by both labor market institutions intensity of exports and as well as rule of law intensity of exports. These predictions are borne out by a cross-country empirical analysis." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))