A rising workfare state? Unemployment benefit conditionality in 21 OECD countries, 1980–2012

Abstract

Over the last decades, governments in the advanced democracies have put greater pressure on the unemployed to seek and accept employment. This development has been pointed out in much prior research, yet relatively little is known about the exact changes that have been introduced. This paper fills this gap. It draws on a novel time-series cross-section dataset on the strictness of unemployment benefit conditions and sanctions in 21 democracies between 1980 and 2012, and shows in which aspects these rules have become stricter – and in which not. The paper confirms that there has been a general trend toward tighter conditions and sanctions, but adds some important qualifications: Many rules and provisions have also been adapted in response to the emergence of new social risks and there is also a noticeable trend toward more clearly defined and precise rules. Based on these findings, new causal hypotheses are suggested.

Unemployment, sanctions and mental health: the relationship between benefit sanctions and antidepressant prescribing

“…Across international social security systems, work-related behavioural conditions are increasingly attached to the receipt of out-of-work benefits and enforced through the threat and imposition of benefit sanctions (Knotz, 2018). The ethical justification of this process is highly contested by competing normative frameworks, though a central issue that all perspectives must attend to concerns the 'effectiveness in practice' (Watts and Fitzpatrick, 2018: 152) of conditional approaches.…”

Recommodification and the Welfare State in Re/Financialised Austerity Capitalism: Further Eroding Social Citizenship?

“…With regard to activation requirements, conditions such as job availability and the use of sanctions have become pervasive since their introduction across several EU countries in early 1980s (Knotz, 2018). The construction, since 2011, of an OECD unemployment benefit eligibility strictness index, based on availability requirements, job search requirements and sanctions, demonstrates a continued upwards creep in strictness, although there are variations across EU member states (Immervoll and Knotz, 2018).…”

Combining labour market and unemployment policies with environmental sustainability? A cross-national study on ecosocial innovations

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