Aktivierende Arbeitsmarktpolitik im internationalen Vergleich
"Aktivierung" als zentrales Prinzip der Leistungsgewährung für Langzeitarbeitslose bzw. erwerbsfähige Sozialhilfeempfänger wurde in Deutschland mit der sogenannten "Hartz IV-Reform" eingeführt. Dänemark, Schweden, die Niederlande und Großbritannien haben diesen Schritt bereits früher vollzogen. Dieses Themendossier bietet Literatur zur Ausgestaltung dieser Programme, zu den Zugängen und ihren Effekten auf die Erwerbsintegration und den Abgang aus dem Leistungsbezug.
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Literaturhinweis
Guaranteed Minimum Income Schemes in Europe: Landscape and Design (2021)
Coady, David; Shang, Baoping; Matsumoto, Riki; Jahan, Samir;Zitatform
Coady, David, Samir Jahan, Riki Matsumoto & Baoping Shang (2021): Guaranteed Minimum Income Schemes in Europe: Landscape and Design. (IMF working paper 2021,179), Washington, DC, 40 S.
Abstract
"This paper provides an overview of the design of means-tested Guaranteed Minimum Income schemes, which constitute an important component of social protection systems in European countries. It discusses how key design features differ across countries, including how countries balance the primary objective of poverty alleviation against the desire to both manage the work disincentives inherent in such programs and contain fiscal cost. The analysis finds a clear trade-off between both concerns in practice, with many countries combining low generosity with low benefit withdrawal rates (BWRs) thus prioritizing employment incentives over the primary objective of poverty alleviation. Many countries can reduce this trade off by combining higher generosity with higher BWRs. Countries with very high BWRs should consider reducing these, including through allowing income disregards and time dependent (rather than income-dependent) benefit withdrawal. The work disincentives associated with higher BWRs can also be attenuated through strengthening complementary activation policies that incentivize and support participation in the labor market." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Impact of South Carolina's TANF Program on Earnings of New Entrants Before and During the Great Economic Recession (2021)
Zitatform
Edelhoch, Marilyn, Cynthia Flynn & Qiduan Liu (2021): Impact of South Carolina's TANF Program on Earnings of New Entrants Before and During the Great Economic Recession. In: Journal of Social Policy, Jg. 50, H. 4, S. 871-890. DOI:10.1017/S0047279420000677
Abstract
"This study assesses the impact of South Carolina’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, Family Independence (FI), on the longitudinal earnings of three cohorts of new entrants who entered the study before, at the beginning of, and at the height of the 2007-2009 recession. Applicants who began the application process but did not enroll in TANF were propensity-score matched to entrants by background characteristics including pre-intervention earnings history, and served as the comparison group. We constructed a latent growth curve model to test whether earnings histories were similar for the program and comparison groups up until FI intake, to estimate program impact by comparing post-intake earnings of program participants to those of the comparison group, and to determine the statistical significance of cohort differences in program impact. The findings showed FI had a positive impact on the earnings of participants before the recession. The effect became weaker during the state’s period of rising unemployment, and disappeared during the worst economic recession in decades. This study demonstrates the usefulness of longitudinal administrative data, propensity score matching, and latent growth modeling techniques for evaluating the impact of program interventions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Disrespect or dignity? Experiences of mandatory work participants in the Netherlands from the perspective of the right to work (2021)
Zitatform
Eleveld, Anja (2021): Disrespect or dignity? Experiences of mandatory work participants in the Netherlands from the perspective of the right to work. In: The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, Jg. 29, H. 2, S. 155-171. DOI:10.1332/175982721X16149598814264
Abstract
"This article explores the extent to which mandatory work programmes (MWPs) which oblige social assistance recipients to perform work activities in order to improve or develop basic work skills, can be considered in conformity with the human right to work. Drawing on qualitative research in three municipalities in the Netherlands, the findings indicate that overall, the work in the MWPs infringed the right to work. However, part of the MWP participants were able to realise the right to work to the extent that participation in an MWP enhanced their dignity, self-respect and their opportunities for self-development." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2021 Policy Press) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The long game: Fiscal outlooks to 2060 underline need for structural reform (2021)
Guillemette, Yvan; Turner, David;Zitatform
Guillemette, Yvan & David Turner (2021): The long game: Fiscal outlooks to 2060 underline need for structural reform. (OECD economic policy papers 29), Paris, 44 S. DOI:10.1787/a112307e-en
Abstract
"This paper updates the long-term scenarios to 2060 last published in July 2018, with a special focus on fiscal sustainability and risks. In a baseline economic and fiscal scenario, trend real GDP growth for the OECD + G20 area declines from around 3% post-COVID to 1½ per cent in 2060, mainly due to a deceleration of large emerging-market economies. Meanwhile, secular trends such as population ageing and the rising relative price of services will keep adding pressure on government budgets. Without policy changes, maintaining current public service standards and benefits while keeping public debt ratios stable at current levels would increase fiscal pressure in the median OECD country by nearly 8 percentage points of GDP between 2021 and 2060, and much more in some countries. Policy scenarios show that reforms to labour market and retirement policies could help boost living standards and alleviate future fiscal pressures. An ambitious reform package combining labour market reforms to raise employment rates with reforms to eliminate early retirement pathways and keep effective retirement ages rising by two thirds of future gains in life expectancy could halve the projected increase in fiscal pressure in the median country, even after taking into account future spending pressures associated with ageing." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
How the Welfare-State Regime Shapes the Gap in Subjective Well-Being Between People With and Without Disabilities (2021)
Zitatform
Hadjar, Andreas & Edith Kotitschke (2021): How the Welfare-State Regime Shapes the Gap in Subjective Well-Being Between People With and Without Disabilities. In: Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, Jg. 73, H. 4, S. 501-525. DOI:10.1007/s11577-021-00805-4
Abstract
"Der vorliegende Beitrag nimmt Behinderung, eine wenig beleuchtete Ungleichheitsachse, und subjektives Wohlbefinden in den Blick. Aufbauend auf die Theorie der sozialen Produktionsfunktionen wird der allgemeinen Annahme gefolgt, dass Menschen mit Behinderungen nicht die gleichen Möglichkeiten wie Menschen ohne Behinderungen haben, Ressourcen, instrumentelle Ziele und letztlich Wohlbefinden zu erlangen. Soziale Teilhabe und Arbeitsmarktintegration scheinen bedeutsame Mechanismen hinter den angesprochenen Disparitäten zu sein. Das Sozialsystem eines Landes auf der Makroebene prägt ebenso Unterschiede im subjektiven Wohlbefinden zwischen Gruppen. Die Hauptziele dieses Beitrags bestehen entsprechend darin, den Unterschied im subjektiven Wohlbefinden zwischen Menschen mit und ohne Behinderungen zu analysieren. Inwieweit lässt sich dieser Unterschied durch Unterschiede in sozialer Teilhabe und Arbeitsmarktintegration erklären, und wie prägt das Wohlfahrtsstaatsregime den Unterschied in subjektivem Wohlbefinden zwischen Menschen mit und ohne Behinderungen? Im Kern der Forschung stehen Mehrebenenanalysen von kumulierten Daten des European Social Survey aus 31 europäischen Ländern. Die Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass Menschen mit Behinderungen ein signifikant geringeres subjektives Wohlbefinden zeigen als Menschen ohne Behinderungen. Wohlfahrtsstaatsregimes moderieren diesen Unterschied, wobei die Performanz der skandinavischen sozialdemokratischen (und familienorientierten) Länder hinsichtlich der Bereitstellung gleicher Lebensbedingungen für Menschen mit und ohne Behinderungen offenbar im Vergleich am stärksten erscheint." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag)
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Literaturhinweis
Redistribution across Europe: How much and to whom? (2021)
Zitatform
Hammer, Bernhard, Michael Christl & Silvia De Poli (2021): Redistribution across Europe: How much and to whom? (JRC working papers on taxation and structural reforms 2021-14), Seville, 28 S.
Abstract
"Governments face a potential trade-off between provision for the growing population in retirement and the support of working-age households with low income. Using EUROMOD-based microdata from 28 countries, we (a) quantify the redistribution to the pensioner and non-pensioner populations, (b) study the position of net beneficiaries in the overall income distribution and (c) analyse how taxes and benefits affect the working-age population with low income. Our results provide novel insights into the distributive role of tax-benefit systems across Europe. Interestingly, a strong overall redistribution between households is associated with generous pensions for a portion of the retirees but negatively related to support for low-income households." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The Governance of Labour Administration: Reforms, Innovations and Challenges (2021)
Zitatform
Heyes, Jason & Ludek Rychly (Hrsg.) (2021): The Governance of Labour Administration. Reforms, Innovations and Challenges. Cheltenham: Elgar, 320 S. DOI:10.4337/9781802203158
Abstract
"Focusing on public administration activities in the field of national labour policy, this timely book provides detailed analyses of labour administration reforms, innovations and challenges in different countries, including detailed case studies from Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the US." (Author's abstract, © Edward Elgar Publishing) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Did Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Reduce Employment? Evidence from Early State-Level Expirations in June 2021 (2021)
Zitatform
Holzer, Harry J., Glenn Hubbard & Michael R. Strain (2021): Did Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Reduce Employment? Evidence from Early State-Level Expirations in June 2021. (IZA discussion paper 14927), Bonn, 37 S.
Abstract
"The generosity of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits was expanded during the pandemic (FPUC), along with the groups of workers eligible for benefits (PUA). These two programs were set to expire in September 2021, but 18 states opted out of both in June 2021. Using Current Population Survey data, we present difference-in-difference and event study estimates that the flow of unemployed workers into employment increased by over one half following early termination. We construct a counterfactual scenario that implies the national unemployment rate in each of July and August would have been around 0.3 percentage point lower than they were, and the employment-population ratio would have been around 0.1-0.2 percentage point higher than it was, had all states ended FPUC and PUA in June. Expanded eligibility and generosity of UI may have both slowed transitions from unemployment to employment. We also present some suggestive evidence that households with relatively high confidence in their ability to meet expenses may have been less sensitive to the termination of expanded benefits. Finally, we present evidence that early termination reduced the share of households that had no difficulty meeting expenses by five percent. The welfare implications of the early termination of FPUC and PUA are therefore ambiguous." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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auch erschienen als: NBER Working Papers, 29575 -
Literaturhinweis
Better together: Active and passive labor market policies in developed and developing economies (2021)
Zitatform
Pignatti, Clemente & Eva van Belle (2021): Better together: Active and passive labor market policies in developed and developing economies. In: IZA journal of development and migration, Jg. 12, H. 1. DOI:10.2478/izajodm-2021-0009
Abstract
"We investigate the macroeconomic impact of public expenditure in active labor market policies (ALMPs) and passive labor market policies (PLMPs) on main employment indicators (i.e., unemployment, employment, and labor force participation) for a large and novel panel database of 121 countries (36 developed, 64 emerging and 21 developing economies). Compared to previous studies, we include for the first time evidence from developing and emerging economies and explicitly examine the possible presence of complementarities between active and passive policies. We find that the interaction between interventions is crucial, as the effect of spending in either of the two policies is more favorable the more is spent on the other. Even the detrimental labor market effects of passive policies disappear on the condition that sufficient amounts are spent on active interventions. This complementarity seems even more important for emerging and developing economies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Economizing the political: Workfare reform in strategic management mode (2021)
Zitatform
Ylöstalo, Hanna & Lisa Adkins (2021): Economizing the political: Workfare reform in strategic management mode. In: Current Sociology, Jg. 69, H. 5, S. 723-741. DOI:10.1177/0011392120913579
Abstract
"The focus of this article is a recent round of workfare reform in Finland. Departing from many existing analyses of workfare, it focuses on issues of governance. Drawing on policy documents and interviews with key policy actors, it shows how this reform and attempts at implementation took place along the lines of a specific form of managerial governance, namely strategic governance, involving the enrolment of strategic management into policy making. The article details how this mode of policy making enabled an intensification and depoliticization of workfare policies via the replacement of political concerns with economic imperatives and in so doing contributed to the broader process of economization of the state. While the latter is often located as central to the project of neoliberalism, the practices through which it is instantiated often remain hazy. This article therefore contributes knowledge on how the process of the economization of the political operates in practice." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Joint Employment Report 2021: As adopted by the Council on 9 March 2021 (2021)
Zitatform
(2021): Joint Employment Report 2021. As adopted by the Council on 9 March 2021. (Joint employment report), Brüssel, 141 S.
Abstract
"The Joint Employment Report by the European Commission and the Council is mandated by Article 148 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The European Commission’s proposal for this report is part of the Autumn package. The Joint Employment Report provides an annual overview of key employment and social developments in the European Union as well as Member States’ reform actions, in line with the Guidelines for the Employment Policies of the Member States. The report follows the structure of the Guidelines: boosting the demand for labor (Guideline 5), enhancing labor supply and improving access to employment, skills and competences (Guideline 6), enhancing the functioning of labor markets and the effectiveness of social dialogue (Guideline 7), and promoting equal opportunities for all, fostering social inclusion and fighting poverty (Guideline 8). In addition, the Joint Employment Report monitors Member States’ performance in relation to the Social Scoreboard set up in the context of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The Pillar was proclaimed jointly by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on 17 November 2017. It identifies principles and rights in three areas: i) equal opportunities and access to the labor market, ii) fair working conditions, and iii) social protection and inclusion. Monitoring of progress in these areas is underpinned by a detailed analysis of the Social Scoreboard accompanying the Pillar. The Joint Employment Report is structured as follows: an introductory chapter (Chapter 1) reports on main labor market and social trends in the European Union, to set the scene. Chapter 2 presents the main results from the analysis of the social scoreboard associated with the European Pillar of Social Rights. Chapter 3 provides a detailed cross-country description of key indicators (including from the social scoreboard), looking at Member States’ performance, challenges and policies implemented to address the Guidelines for Employment Policies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Stuck! Welfare state dependency as lived experience (2020)
Zitatform
Andersen, Ditte (2020): Stuck! Welfare state dependency as lived experience. In: European Societies, Jg. 22, H. 3, S. 317-336. DOI:10.1080/14616696.2019.1616796
Abstract
"The concern that public support may spur dependency has been voiced throughout the history of welfare states. Nevertheless, little research examines the experience of welfare state dependency in the context of recipients' everyday lives. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of a case involving Anna, who depends on the Danish welfare system for financial benefits and other forms of support. The study spans five years from age 19 to 24, and includes some of the significant others in Anna's everyday life - her mother, who also depends on welfare, and her caseworkers. By situating Anna's experiences in a temporal and social context, the case study advances a nuanced understanding of welfare state dependency and identifies three driving forces of the experience: (1) the concern about intergenerational transmission of dependency that spurs a shared sense of hopelessness among Anna and her significant others; (2) the recurrent changes of diagnoses that adds to the feeling of dependency by repeatedly generating waiting time, e.g. for new psychiatric assessments; (3) the system's requirement to produce numerous but sketchy future plans that lack real-world plausibility. The case study clarifies the importance that respectable exits out of welfare state dependency are not only imaginable but also believable." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Activation is not a panacea: Active labour market policy, long-term unemployment and institutional complementarity (2020)
Zitatform
Benda, Luc, Ferry Koster & Romke van der Veen (2020): Activation is not a panacea: Active labour market policy, long-term unemployment and institutional complementarity. In: Journal of social policy, Jg. 49, H. 3, S. 483-506. DOI:10.1017/S0047279419000515
Abstract
"Evaluation studies of active labour market policy show different activation measures generate contradictory results. In the present study, we argue that these contradictory results are due to the fact that the outcomes of activation measures depend on other institutions. The outcome measure in this study is the long-term unemployment rate. Two labour market institutions are of special interest in this context: namely, employment protection and unemployment benefits. Both institutions, depending on their design, may either increase or decrease the effectiveness of active labour market policies in lowering long-term unemployment. Based on an analysis of macro-level data on 20 countries over a period of 16 years, our results show that employment protection strictness and unemployment benefit generosity interact with the way in which active labour market policies relate to long-term unemployment. Our results also indicate that, depending on the measure used, active labour market policies fit either in a flexible or in a coordinated labour market. This suggests that active labour market policies can adhere to both institutional logics, which are encapsulated in different types of measures." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Folgen der Corona-Krise für die sozialen Sicherungssysteme im Ländervergleich (Serie "Corona-Krise: Folgen für den Arbeitsmarkt") (2020)
Zitatform
Bruckmeier, Kerstin & Regina Konle-Seidl (2020): Folgen der Corona-Krise für die sozialen Sicherungssysteme im Ländervergleich (Serie "Corona-Krise: Folgen für den Arbeitsmarkt"). In: IAB-Forum H. 02.10.2020 Nürnberg, o. Sz., 2020-10-01.
Abstract
"Ähnlich wie in Deutschland hat die Corona-Krise auch in anderen Ländern Lücken in der sozialen Absicherung bestimmter Beschäftigtengruppen offenbart. Um diese in der Krise besser zu schützen, wurde eine Reihe von Sozialleistungen länderübergreifend ausgeweitet. Gleichwohl besteht auch über die Krise hinaus Handlungsbedarf. So bedarf es etwa in Deutschland vor allem einer grundlegenden Reform der Minijobs und einer besseren Absicherung von Solo-Selbstständigen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)
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Literaturhinweis
Motivating the unemployed: A full-range model of motivational strategies that caseworkers use to activate clients (2020)
Zitatform
Grandia, Jolien, Yvonne M. La Grouw & Peter M. Kruyen (2020): Motivating the unemployed: A full-range model of motivational strategies that caseworkers use to activate clients. In: Social policy and administration, Jg. 54, H. 3, S. 375-389. DOI:10.1111/spol.12540
Abstract
"Governments use activation policies to stimulate unemployed citizens in finding work. Caseworkers are, as front-line workers, responsible for concrete activation trajectories based on these activation policies. Little is known about how caseworkers try to get clients to participate in these activation trajectories. In a qualitative, inductive study (consisting of observations and reflective interviews) in two welfare agencies, we identified 10 motivational strategies that caseworkers employed. The full-range leadership model appeared to be an appropriate perspective to understand, systematize, and reflect on these strategies, in particular as our analyses show that these motivational strategies can be placed on a continuum ranging from laissez-faire to transactional and transformational strategies. We found that caseworkers matched their motivational strategy to the situation and client but preferred transformational strategies. Our findings implicate chances but also challenges for activation in practice and literature on front-line workers." (Author's abstract, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
From problems to barriers: A bottom-up perspective on the institutional framing of a labour activation programme (2020)
Zitatform
Hansen, Helle Cathrine (2020): From problems to barriers: A bottom-up perspective on the institutional framing of a labour activation programme. In: Social policy and society, Jg. 19, H. 1, S. 75-87. DOI:10.1017/S1474746419000241
Abstract
"Human resource development (HRD) approaches aim to increase service users' labour market prospects through training and upskilling. However, research on activation policy implementation suggests that individualised, tailored measures may be difficult to implement because of organisational structures, standardised procedures, contradictory professional interests, and broad framework laws. This qualitative study explored the institutional framing of the Norwegian Qualification Programme and how that framing created barriers in service users' trajectories towards labour market inclusion. The study applied a bottom-up perspective to analyse how these barriers are entangled in a multidimensional web of interrelated and sometimes contradictory relations. Highlighting the service users' perspective, the study aimed to examine how institutional framing may interfere with the activation policy goal of qualifying service users for the labour market. The results point to how institutional framing governs local practice and creates barriers that ultimately may impede activation policy goals." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Does Demanding Activation Work? A Comparative Analysis of the Effects of Unemployment Benefit Conditionality on Employment in 21 Advanced Economies, 1980–2012 (2020)
Zitatform
Knotz, Carlo Michael (2020): Does Demanding Activation Work? A Comparative Analysis of the Effects of Unemployment Benefit Conditionality on Employment in 21 Advanced Economies, 1980–2012. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 36, H. 1, S. 121-135. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcz041
Abstract
"Whether or not putting the unemployed under greater pressure to seek and accept jobs really helps to raise levels of employment remains a controversially discussed question. Empirical research into this question has so far focused on the micro-level whereas the macro-level effects remain unexplored. This article fills this gap, using a novel comparative dataset on the strictness of job-search and availability requirements and sanction rules for unemployment benefit claimants in 21 countries between 1980 and 2012. It is shown that requiring more active job-search and availability for a wider range of jobs does indeed lead to increased employment, while no evidence for a similar positive effect of tougher sanction rules on employment is found. The data do indicate, however, that sanction rules are themselves a product of adverse labour market conditions. Interactive estimations also suggest a negative moderating influence of tough sanction rules on the effectiveness of stricter conditions, whereas more generous unemployment insurance and assistance benefits appear to strengthen the effects of stricter conditions. Overall, the results suggest that to increase employment, the treatment of the unemployed may be demanding but should not be punitive and should include supportive elements, providing claimants with the resources they need to effectively look for work." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
No margin for error: Fifteen years in the working lives of lone mothers and their children (2020)
Zitatform
Millar, Jane & Tess Ridge (2020): No margin for error: Fifteen years in the working lives of lone mothers and their children. In: Journal of social policy, Jg. 49, H. 1, S. 1-17. DOI:10.1017/S0047279418000752
Abstract
"Over the past two decades, the emphasis on paid work has become one of the defining features of social security policy in the UK. Lone mothers and their families have been one of the key groups affected. In this article we focus on the working and family lives of lone mothers and their children over time, drawing on material from a long-term qualitative research study, and setting this in the context of policy developments. We explore the long-term consequences of trying to sustain work, and manage low-income family life as children grow up and needs change over time. This highlights some of the tensions and limitations in family support and relationships when resources are limited. We reflect on the links between insecurity, legacies and the state." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Activating the Welfare subject : The problem of agency (2020)
Morris, Lydia;Zitatform
Morris, Lydia (2020): Activating the Welfare subject : The problem of agency. In: Sociology, Jg. 54, H. 2, S. 275-291. DOI:10.1177/0038038519867635
Abstract
"While accepting Banton's recently expressed view that sociology and social policy are distinct disciplines, this article argues that times of radical change can profitably bring the two into closer dialogue. Considering an argument from Emirbayer and Mische that agency becomes especially apparent in unsettled times, it focuses on conceptions of agency at play in the design and implementation of recent UK welfare reforms, and in subsequent legal challenges. Identifying a series of key measures in the Welfare Reform Act of 2012 and the Welfare and Work Act of 2016, this article examines the challenges that have ensued, and the way that agency is revealed as both a site of disciplinary control and as a focus for contestation, pitting the purposive rationality of welfare reform against the practical reason that emerges from claimant experience." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Public support for sanctioning older unemployed: a survey experiment in 21 European countries (2020)
Zitatform
Naumann, Elias, Wouter De Tavernier, Laura Naegele & Moritz Hess (2020): Public support for sanctioning older unemployed. A survey experiment in 21 European countries. In: European Societies, Jg. 22, H. 1, S. 77-100. DOI:10.1080/14616696.2019.1660394
Abstract
"The public opinion literature has found that the age of the benefit recipient is an important determinant in the formation of welfare state attitudes. Older people are perceived as more deserving of help and also punished less for not accepting a job. We argue that such a preferential treatment of older people depends on the social and economic context. In this article, we examine public support for demanding active labour market policies in 21 European countries. Relying on a survey experiment varying the age of the unemployed person, our analysis confirms that older unemployed are punished less than younger unemployed for not accepting a job offer. However, this effect varies between countries and our evidence suggests that support for exempting older individuals from demanding active labour market policies disappears as societies age. Moreover, support for stricter sanctions in general is higher in countries with a higher unemployment rate and in countries that already have rather strict active labour market policies. These findings question the public's role as a veto player in the reform process as it seems unlikely that public opinion will block attempts to further strengthen demanding active labour market policies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))