Abstract

The study investigates the development of job search activities during welfare receipt for various family contexts in Germany. It is a major concern in modern welfare states that welfare recipients might reduce job search activities over time and develop dependence on benefits. This seems especially problematic for families in need of state support, as it is argued that poor children’s development and opportunities for social participation are restricted.

Therefore, activation policies in Germany support and demand a quick labour market reintegration. For couple households in benefits receipt both partners are subject to job search activation. While a male-breadwinner arrangement is still common in considerable parts of German society, the activation policies are meant to overcome traditional role models and increase chances of employment take-up in the household due to women increasingly engaging in job search.

Our article therefore analyses whether men and women differ in their levels of job search probability over time depending on cohabitation with a partner and / or children. The empirical analyses are based on growth curve models estimated for a large sample of German Unemployment Benefit II recipients taken from the panel study “Labour Market and Social Security” (PASS).