Are benefit reductions an effective activation strategy? The case of the lowest benefit recipients in Denmark
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Are benefit reductions an effective activation strategy? The case of the lowest benefit recipients in Denmark. / Hussain, M. Azhar; Ejrnæs, Morten; Larsen, Jørgen Elm.
I: Journal of Social Policy, Bind 50, Nr. 3, 2021, s. 569–587.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Are benefit reductions an effective activation strategy?
T2 - The case of the lowest benefit recipients in Denmark
AU - Hussain, M. Azhar
AU - Ejrnæs, Morten
AU - Larsen, Jørgen Elm
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Decades of commitment to the basic principles of the Danish welfare state have been discarded with a new social policy reducing the benefits for people already at the bottom of the income ladder. The political intention is to increase job search via economic incentives that increase the gap between benefit income and market income. Using a panel dataset with benefit recipients, we show that the intended job search effect did not materialise to any significant extent; rather, the affected people became poorer because the vast majority of individuals could not respond to the economic incentives in the intended manner. Joblessness was not due to lack of incentives. This study confirms the importance of employability and self-efficacy, but it shows that health is an underlying variable that explains both of these factors and the recipients’ difficulties in getting a job. The results have two major social policy implications. Access to early retirement schemes should be easier for recipients who have serious health problems and therefore cannot respond to economic incentives, and there should be an increased focus on how to help the recipients without major health problems to develop self-efficacy.
AB - Decades of commitment to the basic principles of the Danish welfare state have been discarded with a new social policy reducing the benefits for people already at the bottom of the income ladder. The political intention is to increase job search via economic incentives that increase the gap between benefit income and market income. Using a panel dataset with benefit recipients, we show that the intended job search effect did not materialise to any significant extent; rather, the affected people became poorer because the vast majority of individuals could not respond to the economic incentives in the intended manner. Joblessness was not due to lack of incentives. This study confirms the importance of employability and self-efficacy, but it shows that health is an underlying variable that explains both of these factors and the recipients’ difficulties in getting a job. The results have two major social policy implications. Access to early retirement schemes should be easier for recipients who have serious health problems and therefore cannot respond to economic incentives, and there should be an increased focus on how to help the recipients without major health problems to develop self-efficacy.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - economic incentives
KW - social assistance
KW - health
KW - employment
KW - self-efficacy
KW - regression
KW - economic incentives
KW - social assistance
KW - health
U2 - 10.1017/S0047279420000318
DO - 10.1017/S0047279420000318
M3 - Journal article
VL - 50
SP - 569
EP - 587
JO - Journal of Social Policy
JF - Journal of Social Policy
SN - 0047-2794
IS - 3
ER -
ID: 255355878