Do ‘flexicurity’ Policies Work for People With Low Education and Health Problems? A Comparison of Labour Market Policies and Employment Rates in Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom 1990–2010

Abstract

People with limiting longstanding illness and low education may experience problems in the labor market. Reduced employment protection that maintains economic security for the individual, known as "flexicurity," has been proposed as a way to increase overall employment. We compared the development of labor market policies and employment rates from 1990 to 2010 in Denmark and the Netherlands (representing flexicurity), the United Kingdom, and Sweden. Employment rates in all countries were much lower in the target group than for other groups over the study period. However, "flexicurity" as practiced in Denmark, far from being a "magic bullet," appeared to fail low-educated people with longstanding illness in particular. The Swedish policy, on the other hand, with higher employment protection and higher economic security, particularly earlier in the study period, led to higher employment rates in this group. Findings also revealed that economic security policies in all countries were eroding and shifting toward individual responsibility. Finally, results showed that active labor market policies need to be subcategorized to better understand which types are best suited for the target group. Increasing employment among the target group could reduce adverse health consequences and contribute to decreasing inequalities in health.

Gatekeeping disability income support: A conceptual model

“…For example, since the 2000s, we have seen reforms premised on tightening eligibility criteria in other liberal welfare states such as the United Kingdom and in countries like Denmark, Sweden, and The Netherlands (Kananen, , pp. 8–12; McAllister et al, ). This article provides empirical support that future reforms need to shift away from only changing eligibility criteria for improving the gatekeeping process.…”

Social Differentials in Non-Employment following Hospital Admission for Musculoskeletal Disorders in Sweden, 2001–2006

“…Across welfare states, low educational qualifications further impair employment chances among persons with LLSI, but differentials in the Nordic countries are smaller compared to other welfare states (100). However, this seems to have changed in Sweden over time (7). Employment chances for persons with LLSI in different educational groups in Sweden were similar in the late 1980s but these conditions changed during the economic recession in the 1990s (7).…”

“…During the Swedish economic recession in the 1990s downsizing and increasing unemployment rates were seen, along with deteriorated employment protection (7). This had negative effects on employment rates among groups with chronic disease and led to longer sick leaves followed by increasing rates of newly granted disability pension from the beginning of the 2000s (32).…”

“…Several studies in public health research investigate the impact of labour market and social policy context on employment opportunities for groups with LLSI (97)(98)(99)(100)(101)(102). In general, Nordic countries with active labour market policies are found to be more successful in keeping this group in the labour market, compared to liberal welfare states which have more flexible labour market policies and less generous income maintenance systems (7,97,98). In addition, differentials to the healthy population in employment and income conditions are smaller in the Nordic countries (100).…”

Health inequalities – a challenge for the social investment welfare state

“…"Protection" protects against poverty and social exclusion when employment opportunities are limited for various reasons, such as a lack of available jobs or limited workability. Labor market policies play an important role here (Reeves, 2014;McAllister, 2015). In figure 2, we have added a fourth investment-policy element: investment in health for reasons described below.…”