Ready to work (yet)? Unemployment trajectories among vulnerable welfare recipients

Abstract

By analysing changes through time in vulnerable welfare recipients’ perception of their unemployment trajectories, the article revisits the assumption that unemployed clients’ trajectories are linear pathways following a clear and predictable line of causes and effects. The analysis is based on a qualitative longitudinal study in which 25 vulnerable welfare recipients were interviewed and observed repeatedly over the course of a two-year period. The article depicts four main stages – clients step into and out of through time, dependent on their perception of individual agency, institutional role and orientation towards the future. The results show that stages in vulnerable clients’ unemployment trajectories overlap in complicated ways, in which different explanations, effects, unintended consequences and interlocking problems are closely intertwined. By studying social policy reforms through the lenses of the clients, the study challenges current research attempts to find a quick fix or ‘one-size-fits-all’ intervention to improve the employability of vulnerable clients.

Bringing the client back in: A comparison between political rationality and the experiences of the unemployed

“…Over a two‐year period (2013–2015), data were collected intensively, with repeated interviews and observations of each claimant's unemployment trajectory in four or five irregular waves, as determined by the changes and transitions in the claimants' lives (Danneris, ). Applying a holistic approach to the data collection (Holstein & Gubrium, ), the contact took various forms, including hour‐long individual interviews, observations of meetings with social work professionals, phone interviews and informal conversations.…”

“…The comparative analysis presented in the article reporting on the qualitative longitudinal study started out with an in‐depth analysis of the individual trajectories for the 25 claimants over time (Danneris, ). An abductive approach (Ragin & Amoroso, ) was then followed in which the empirical findings were discussed and explored in light of political discourses and practices.…”

“…However, when we dig into the individual trajectories during the two‐year period, it is striking that this logic fails to address the reality perceived by the welfare claimants. The analysis reveals that the claimants' life trajectories consist of complex patterns and comprise different stages that change continuously over time and lead them in different directions (see Danneris, ). Thus, rather than facing a one‐way street, the informants find themselves within an open‐ended infrastructure, with multiple roads.…”

The Category Game and its Impact on Street-Level Bureaucrats and Jobseekers: An Australian Case Study

“…Although qualitative longitudinal interviews have been widely used to study jobseekers' experiences of activation (e.g. Danneris, 2018), the experiences of frontline workers in activating clients have rarely been examined through such an approach. Observational and interview research with frontline workers has largely followed a crosssectional design, gathering data about street-level practices at specific moments rather than tracking the evolution of caseworkers' approaches over a sustained period of working with clients.…”

Welfare-to-work Policies Meeting Complex Realities of Unemployed Citizens: Examining Assumptions in Welfare

“…Notable exceptions are the work ofWright (2012; andDanneris (2016aDanneris ( , 2016b. 2 All translations are courtesy of the author.…”