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Title: Lecture 10: Employment and Underemployment


1
Lecture 10 Employment and Underemployment
GEE 263S/SWK 2160 Economic Insecurity and Social
Security
  • Instructor Dr. Wong Hung

2
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  • ????97??2.2?????99???6.3,?????????????
  • 2001??????????,??????????,???????????,2001????????
    ?5.8????,??????????????,?2002???????,??????6.7,?
    ???????,
  • 2003?3?,?????????, ????2003?4?6?????8.3???(????)
    ?300,000???, ????????4.3, ?151 000?????

3
(No Transcript)
4
??????
  • ??,????????????????????,?????????,????????????,???
    ???????????,???????????????

5
?????(polarization)
  • ????????????????????,????????????????????(core)???
    ???(peripheral)????????(polarized labour market)
  • ?????????,??????????????????????????????,????????
    ????????????
  • ??????????????????????????????????,???????????????
    ?????

6
?????(polarization)
  • ????????????????(flexible management)??,??????????
    ????????????????????????????,?????????????????????
    ??????????(internal labour market)?????
  • ?????????,?????????????????????????,??????????????
    ???(Hakim, 1995 ??, 1999)

7
?????(polarization)
  • ??????????????????????????????,???????????????,???
    ????????(social exclusion)???,?/?????????????,????
    ???????
  • ???????,???/???????,??????????????????????????????
    ???????????????,???????????,???????????????

8
????????
  • ????????(status attainment theories)?????????(????
    ?????)???????(??????????????)???????????????????
  • ???????(human capital theories)???????????????????
    ??????????????????????????
  • ????????(social capital theories)??????????,??????
    ??????????????????????

9
????????
  • ????????????????,????????????????,??????????????
  • ??????????????????????????????
  • ???????,?????????????????????,?????????????,??????
    ????????
  • ??????????????????????????,???????????????????????
    ??????????????????????

10
?????????(segmented labour market theory)
  • ???????????
  • ????????????,????????????????????
  • ?????????????????,??????????????
  • ?????????????????????????????

11
???????
  • ????????????????????,
  • ??????????????????????????
  • ?????,??????????????????????????????,?????????????
    ??????????????,?????????????????,?????????????????
    ???????????

12
?????????????
  • ?????????????????????????????????????????,????????
    ?????????????????????????,?????????????

13
??/?????????????????
  • ?80?????????90???????,??????????????????????
  • ??????????????????????,??????????/??????????????,
  • ???????????????????????,?????????????????????,????
    ???????
  • ???,????????????????????????????

14
Grubb (2000)????????????????
  • ??(?????)??, ??????, ?????(work-based Learning)
    ,???????,???????
  • ???????????
  • ??????????????????????????
  • ??????????????????????,
  • ?????????, ????????????

15
????????(OECD) (2000) From Initial Education to
Working Life Making Transitions Work
  • ???14???????????????????????
  • ???????
  • ??????????????????,??????.
  • ???????????????????, ???????
  • ????????
  • ????????

16
?????
  • ??, ??????????????????????? ?????,?????????.
  • ????????????????????????,????????,????????????????
    ??
  • ?????????????????

17
????????(OECD
  • ???
  • ????????????????,
  • ????????????????,??
  • ?????????
  • ?????????
  • ?????????????(workfare)
  • ???
  • ???????????,??????????,
  • ????
  • ???????????

18
????????ALMP
  • ????????????????????????????????????
  • ????????????????,?????????????????
  • ??????????,???????????????????????????????????????
    ??????????????????????????????????

19
????????ALMP
  • ???????????????????????????????
  • ???????????,???????????????????????????????
  • ?????????????????????,????????????
  • ???????????????????????,??????????????????????

20
Centre for Employment Training (CET)
  • Centre for Employment (CET)??????????????????
  • ???????????????????????,?????????,????????????????
    ?,?????????????

21
Centre for Employment Training
  • CET?????San Jose???,??????
  • ?????????????????????CET??????????????????????????
    ?,????????(6??)????????

22
Centre for Employment Training (CET)
  • CET??????????????????????????????,????????????
  • ??????CET????????,??????????,?????????????????????
    ???????????????????????????

23
Centre for Employment Training (CET)
  • CET????????????????????????????????????????
  • CET??????? ????????????????????????,????????
  • ?Harrison Weiss (1998) ?????CET???????,?????????
    ???????????

24
CET?????
  • ????????????????????????CET?????????,????????????(
    ??????????????????????),?????????????????????
  • ??????????????????????????,???????????????????,???
    ???????(??)????

25
CET?????
  • ?CET?????,?????????????????
  • CET???????????????(Industrial Advisory
    Boards)??????????(Technical Advisory
    Committees),????????????????????????????????????
  • ?????????????????????????????????,????,???????????
    ?????????????????????????

26
CET?????
  • CET?????????????????????????????
  • ?????????????????????????,??????????(United
    farmworkers of America UFW),?????????CET????
  • ?????????????????CET????????(empowerment)????

27
CET?????
  • Melendez(1996) ??CET?????????????????????????????,
  • ???????????????????
  • CET?????????????????????

28
??????
  • ??CET?????,?????????????????????????????????,?????
    ??????????????????????
  • ?????????????????????
  • ???????????????????????????????
  • ???????????????????????,???????????????????,??????
    ???????,??????????????????????????,?????????

29
Lecture 11 ALMPs and Workfare
  • Instructor Dr. Wong Hung

30
Replication of CET
  • analysis of implementation experiences at the
    twelve replication sites focused on four
    distinctive elements of the CET model
  • employment and training services designed to
    mirror the workplace,
  • intensive participation in such services,
  • the close involvement of industry in the design
    and operation of the program, and
  • organizational capacity and stability.

31
 Summary
  • most replication sites successfully implemented
    most elements of the CET model, but several sites
    had difficulty sustaining their programs for the
    full demonstration period.
  • CET model proved challenging to implement in its
    entirety, but many of its features appear
    adaptable to mainstream employment and training
    programs serving out-of-school youth.

32
Result 1 possible replication
  • A majority of the 12 replication sites
    successfully provided a work-like training
    environment, involved industry in the design and
    operations of their services, and offered
    training programs that concentrated participation
    over a relatively short period of time.
  • these aspects of the CET model appear to face no
    inherent obstacles to their implementation, given
    sufficient commitment from policymakers, funders,
    and program operators.

33
 Result 2 Difficult to sustain
  • The greatest challenge for sites was not
    implementing the CET model, but sustaining it.
  • While most sites implemented programs consistent
    with the major features of the CET model, several
    of these programs could not be sustained. Four of
    the twelve replication sites shut their doors
    before the demonstration had ended, and three
    others faced serious difficulties in maintaining
    program operations.

34
Result 3 Crucial Factor organizational stability
  • Future attempts to replicate the CET model should
    consider organizational stability as a critical
    factor affecting program sustainability.
  •  CET-San Jose has taken more than 30 years to
    establish and refine its own program of
    employment and training services, yet replication
    sites sought to develop a similar model in as few
    as three years.

35
Result 3 Crucial Factor organizational stability
  • Sites that were most successful in sustaining
    these programs had operated employment and
    training programs for many years, and had
    weathered numerous previous challenges. These
    sites had close connections to their communities
    and to local funders, and could rely on these
    connections to gain support for innovative
    programs.
  • Sites operated by less experienced organizations
    faced greater difficulties in implementing the
    CET model, and were more likely to fail in this
    attempt.

36
Result 4 New approaches
  • Replicating the CET model on a larger scale than
    that attempted in this demonstration may require
    new approaches.
  • Potential funders are often reluctant to support
    innovation, finding it safer to maintain existing
    program models than to attempt new ones.
  • New approaches, such as multi-year funding or
    incentives for local funders to support these
    programs, may be necessary to replicate the CET
    model on a larger scale.

37
The 30 months report ( Miller, et al. 2003)
  • Key Findings
  • The fidelity of program services to the original
    CET model varied greatly across the sites,
    affecting both implementation and impacts.
  • Four study sites (all older, CET-operated
    programs) implemented the model with high
    fidelity six sites operated programs with medium
    fidelity and two sites implemented the model
    with low fidelity.
  • Intensive participation in training and strong
    organizational stability were the two aspects of
    the CET model that were most difficult to achieve
    in the replication sites.

38
high-fidelity sites, stronger impacts
  • access to the program increased youths
    participation in training activities
    substantially above the level for the control
    group
  • increased the percentage of youths completing a
    training certificate. In the medium- and
    low-fidelity sites, impacts on service receipt
    and completion were smaller.

39
Positive on female but not male
  • In the high-fidelity sites, access to the program
    produced substantial positive impacts across a
    range of employment-related outcomes for young
    women,
  • the percentage of young women ever working,
    employment rates at the follow-up survey, and
    (quite probably) earnings though the small
    sample prevents a statistically significant
    finding.

40
Less impacts on men
  • For young men, the results in high-fidelity
    sites were either negative or negligible.
  • The earnings of the program group were less than
    those of the control group a result driven by
    declines in employment and hours worked, probably
    related to shifts in participants industry and
    occupation of employment.

41
medium- and low-fidelity sites, negative or
negligible impacts
  • Program group youth in the lower-fidelity sites
    had lower employment and earnings impacts were
    especially disappointing for those without a high
    school credential and those who were teenagers
    when they entered the sample.
  • Longer-term follow-up may produce more
    encouraging findings for men and for the low- and
    medium-fidelity sites.

42
The economy
  • The strong economy during the follow-up period
    for this report allowed youth with low skills to
    find jobs, possibly lessening the impact of the
    CET program.
  • The longer follow-up period now under way extends
    into the recent economic slowdown and provides an
    opportunity to see whether the enhanced skills
    produced by CET have positioned the program group
    members to better withstand a weaker job market.

43
Active Labor Market Policies ALMPs
  • Public spending on labour market programmes
    absorbs significant shares of national resources
    in many OECD countries, these policies being
    expected to achieve a variety of economic and
    social objectives.
  • For analytical and policy purposes, the OECD
    splits this spending into so-called active and
    passive measures
  • Active comprise a wide range of policies aimed
    at improving the access of the unemployed to the
    labour market and jobs, job-related skills and
    the functioning of the labour market
  • Passive relate to spending on income transfers

44
Five Areas of ALMPs
  • Public employment services and administration.
  • Labour market training
  • Youth measures.
  • Subsidised employment
  • Measures for the disabled

45
Public employment services and administration
  • job placement,
  • administering unemployment benefits
  • referring jobseekers to available slots on labour
    market programmes.

46
Labour market training
  • spending on vocational and remedial training for
    the unemployed
  • training for employed adults for labour market
    reasons.

47
Youth measures
  • training and employment programmes targeted to
    the young unemployed
  • apprenticeship training, which is mainly for
    school leavers, not the unemployed.

48
Subsidised employment
  • hiring subsidies, i.e. subsidies paid to
    private-sector employers to encourage them to
    hire unemployed workers
  • assistance to unemployed persons who wish to
    start their own business
  • direct job creation for the unemployed in the
    public or nonprofit sectors.

49
Measures for the disabled
  • vocational rehabilitation training and related
    measures to make the disabled more employable
  • Sheltered work programmes which directly employ
    disabled people.

50
(No Transcript)
51
WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOES NOT-economic policy
  • Since one of the main objectives of active
    measures is to assist the unemployed to get back
    into work,
  • require a reasonably buoyant supply of job
    vacancies in order to be effective.
  • If an economy is generating few vacancies, one
    should not be surprised if active measures prove
    to be relatively ineffective.
  • Aggregate demand matters too. As The OECD Jobs
    Study has stressed, more effective active
    policies are only one element in a comprehensive
    strategy of macroeconomic and microeconomic
    measures required to cut unemployment
    significantly.

52
Formal classroom training
  • Help Women re-entrants
  • Dont help Prime-age men and older workers with
    low initial education
  • Lessons
  • Important that courses signal strong labour
    market initial relevance,
  • signal high quality to employers.
  • Keep programmes relatively small in scale.

53
On-the-Job-Training
  • Help Women re-entrants, single mothers
  • Dont help Prime-age men
  • Lessons
  • Must directly meet labour market needs.
  • Hence, need establish strong links with local
    employers,
  • but this increases the risk of displacement

54
Job Search Assistance (Job Clubs, individual
counselling)
  • Help Most unemployed but in particular women and
    sole parents
  • Dont help
  • Lessons
  • Must be combined with increased monitoring of the
    job-search behaviour of the unemployed and
    enforcement of work tests.

55
Re-employment Bonus
  • Help Most adult unemployed
  • Dont help
  • Lessons
  • Requires careful monitoring and controls on both
    recipients and their former employers.

56
Special youth measures
  • training, employment and subsidies, direct job
    creation measures
  • Help Disadvantaged youths
  • Dont help
  • Lessons
  • Effective programmes need to combine an
    appropriate integrated mix of education,
    occupational skills, work-based learning and
    supportive services to young people and their
    families.
  • Early and sustained interventions are likely to
    be most effective.
  • Need to deal with inappropriate attitudes to work
    on the part of youths. Adult mentors can help.

57
Subsidies to employment
  • Help Long-term unemployed and women re-entrants
  • Dont help
  • Lessons
  • Require careful targeting and adequate controls
    to maximise net employment gains, but there is a
    tradeoff with employer take-up.

58
Aid to unemployed starting enterprises
  • Help
  • Men (below 40, relatively better educated)
  • Dont help
  • Lessons
  • Only works for a small subset of the population.

59
Direct Job Creation
  • Help Severely disadvantaged labour market groups
    (?)
  • Dont help Most adult unemployed
  • Lessons
  • Typically provides few long-run benefits and
    principle of additionality usually implies low
    marginal-product jobs.

60
Recommendations on ALMPs
  • to maximise ALMPs effectiveness
  • (1) rely as much as possible on in-depth
    counselling, job-finding incentives (e.g.
    re-employment bonuses) and job-search assistance
    programmes.
  • combined with increased monitoring of the
    jobsearch activity of the unemployed and
    enforcement of the work test.
  • (2) keep public training programmes small in
    scale and well targeted to the specific needs of
    both job seekers and local employers.

61
Recommendations on ALMPs
  • (3) early interventions, reaching back to
    pre-school, can pay dividends for disadvantaged
    youths, but they must be sustained.
  • reduce early school-leaving targeted on at-risk
    students combined with policies to ensure that
    they leave the schooling system equipped with
    basic skills and competencies that are recognised
    and valued by employers.
  • improve poor attitudes to work on the part of
    such young people and adult mentors can help in
    this regard.

62
  Recommendations on ALMPs
  • (4) as the duration of unemployment spells
    lengthens, various forms of employment subsidies
    may serve to maintain workers attachment to the
    labor force.
  • However, employment subsidies should be of short
    duration, targeted and closely monitored.
  • (5) use subsidised business start-ups for the
    minority among the unemployed who have
    entrepreneurial skills and the motivation to
    survive in a competitive environment.

63
Curb unemployment traps
  •  The most direct step to curb the unemployment
    trap is to cut replacement rates.
  • However, where actions were taken to cut
    replacement rates, they were usually motivated by
    budget considerations rather than out of concern
    about the possible emergence of benefit
    dependency or work disincentives.

64
Actions Taken
  • political difficulties make only marginal cuts
    in the generosity of benefit entitlements, but to
    tighten up on eligibility conditions for receipt
    of benefits and to develop activation
    strategies for the unemployed.
  •  The aim of activation strategies is to encourage
    the unemployed to be more active in job search
    and keep more in touch with the labour market.

65
Different Strategies
  • Such strategies range from attempts to provide
    more effective job-search assistance to the
    unemployed and monitoring their search activity
    at one end of the spectrum
  • to making it obligatory on the unemployed to
    satisfy work tests or participate in active
    programmes
  • or in education and training if they are to
    continue to draw benefits.
  • Such activation strategies are becoming quite
    common for young people in OECD countries
  • (e.g. Australia, Denmark, Ireland, United
    Kingdom), and they are even being
  • extended to other groups of the unemployed in
    some countries.

66
Workfare
  • The recent US welfare reform, with its emphasis
    on work requirements, time limits for benefits
    and sanctions for non-compliance, can be viewed
    as an extreme example of this approach, also
    known as workfare.
  • The role of active labour market policies changes
    subtly in the context of an activation strategy.
  • They can then be viewed as a vehicle for
    enforcing a work test on the unemployed,
    especially in cases where the supply of job
    vacancies is low.

67
conditional
  • In such cases, continued receipt of unemployment
    benefits becomes conditional on programme
    participation, as is the case in Denmark or
    Switzerland, and/or by offering a sufficiently
    wide range of programmes so that a maximum number
    of the unemployed will choose to enter them
    voluntarily.
  • In a related manner, there is a growing interest
    in many countries in the potential role which the
    rules used to control job-search behaviour and
    curb benefit abuse by claimants of unemployment
    benefits can play as part of an effective
    activation strategy.

68
Income Support in UK
  • Similar system as CSSA in HK
  • Eligibility be 18 or over and under 60 A person
    does not have to be available for work -
  • bringing up or caring for a child under 16 on
    her/his own.
  • support caring for a seriously disabled or ill
    person
  • ill health or disability

69
Passport
  • Other than basic income support it acts as a
    passport to certain other help.
  • free school meals
  • free prescriptions
  • free dental care
  • vouchers for spectacles
  • free milk and vitamins for expectant mothers and
    children under 5, free vitamins for nursing
    mothers
  • maximum housing benefit
  • maximum council tax benefit.

70
Jobseekers allowance (JSA)
  • a benefit for unemployed people who are capable
    of work.
  • Contribution-based JSA
  • Income-based JSA

71
Contribution-based JSA
  • depend on her/his National Insurance
    contributions (NICs).
  • in one of the last two complete tax years before
    the benefit year in which s/he claims JSA.
  • have contributions or credits for both these
    years.
  • paid for a maximum of six months.
  • lower rate for 18-24 year olds, although they
    have to meet the same contribution conditions.
  • No dependants additions are paid with
    contribution-based JSA.

72
Income-based JSA
  • for unemployed people who have not paid enough
    NICs to receive contribution-based JSA or
  • contribution-based JSA would not be enough to
    live on, for example, they have dependants
  • Entitlement to income-based JSA depends on a
    persons income and capital (savings or
    property). The income and capital rules are the
    same as for income support, except for the
    treatment of part-time earnings.

73
Who can claim JSA
  • An unemployed person can claim JSA if s/he is-
  • aged 18 or over and
  • capable of work.
  • not in work for which s/he receive wages.
    However, some part-time workers may be able to
    claim JSA
  • And under pensionable age (60 for women and 65
    for men) and

74
Who can claim JSA
  • available for work
  • actively seeking work
  • currently holding a jobseekers agreement which
    has been agreed with an Employment Service
    officer
  • not in education in school or at a similar level.
  • resident in the United Kingdom, not subject to
    immigration control, and passes the habitual
    residence test

75
Available for work
  • able to take up employment immediately.
  • has caring responsibilities, s/he has 48 hours in
    which to take up employment.
  • a volunteer, s/he has seven days in which to
    take up employment, as long as s/he is available
    for interview within 48 hours notice.
  • Some people, for example, people with medical
    conditions, may also be able to restrict their
    availability.
  • If a person cannot make her/himself available for
    work, s/he may be able to claim income support.

76
Actively seeking work
  • prove that s/he has applied for jobs, read
    advertisements, registered with employment
    agencies.
  • keep a record of all the steps s/he takes to find
    work, as well as copies of advertisements, and of
    letters s/he writes and receives about jobs.
  • have to attend the job centre regularly to show
    that s/he is still seeking work (see above). If a
    person is unable to show that s/he is actively
    seeking work, s/he may be able to claim income
    support.

77
Ill when claiming JSA
  • An unemployed person is allowed to be ill for up
    to two weeks when claiming JSA.
  • S/he may be ill twice in any period of six months
    of claiming JSA.
  • If s/he is ill for longer or more frequently than
    this s/he will be refused JSA and will have to
    claim a benefit for sickness or disability.

78
Jobseekers agreement
  • have to sign a jobseekers agreement.
  • a document which sets out what the unemployed
    person has agreed to do to find work.
  • These will be steps which s/he has agreed with an
    Employment Service officer at the job centre.

79
Jobseekers direction
  • The claimant may be given suggestions by an
    Employment Service officer about steps s/he can
    take to find work. If s/he unreasonably refuses
    to take these steps, s/he may be given a
    jobseekers direction.
  • This is an instruction to take certain action to
    help her/him find work, for example, attending a
    particular course, registering with an employment
    agency, or responding to a particular
    advertisement.

80
Jobseekers direction
  • If the claimant refuses to follow the jobseekers
    direction and s/he does not have a good reason
    for this refusal, s/he will not receive any JSA
    for two weeks.
  • If s/he unreasonably refuses a second time, s/he
    will not receive JSA for a further four weeks.
  • A person in this position may be able to claim a
    hardship payment, which is a reduced amount of
    JSA.

81
Attending the job centre
  • A JSA claimant will have to attend the job centre
    regularly to show that s/he is still available
    for and actively seeking work
  • her/his jobseekers agreement is still relevant.
  • Most claimants have to sign a declaration that
    they still meet the entitlement conditions every
    two weeks.
  • Some claimants have to sign on more frequently.

82
Sanctions
  • A claimant will also be asked to attend advisory
    interviews during her/his JSA claim, when s/he
    may be referred to a scheme for unemployed
    people, or told to apply for certain vacancies.
  • If s/he fails to do this, s/he may be sanctioned
    A claimant can be asked to attend the job centre
    at any time and her/his benefit may be stopped
    completely if s/he fails to do so without good
    cause.

83
Sanctions
  • A claimant can be sanctioned, which means that
    s/he will not receive any JSA The sanction can be
    for between one and twenty six weeks. A claimant
    will be sanctioned if s/he-
  • does not apply for a job which has been brought
    to her/his attention or
  • refuses to accept a job s/he has been offered or
  • fails to take up the job when s/he is supposed to
    start or
  • fails to carry out a jobseekers direction or
  • has lost her/his job through misconduct or left
    it voluntarily.

84
Sanctions
  • Sanctions can apply to training schemes and
    employment programmes as well as jobs.
  • For example, if a claimant does not take up one
    of the options under the New Deal, s/he will be
    sanctioned and will not receive any JSA.

85
Income Support
86
Contribution-based jobseekers allowance (JSA)
87
Negative Income Tax ( Child Tax Credit and
Working Tax Credit)
  • Child Tax Credit is a means-tested allowance that
    is paid to parents and carers of children or some
    young people who are still in education.
  • If you or your family have gross income of less
    than 50,000 a year and meet the other qualifying
    conditions, you will be eligible for some award.
  • In some circumstances, people with income over
    50,000 may also be entitled to some award.

88
Working Tax Credit
  • is a means-tested allowance for people who are in
    paid employment and who meet certain other
    conditions, based on income and circumstances.
  • If you are a member of a couple you will need to
    make a joint claim with your partner. If you and
    your partner have income below a certain level
    and meet certain other conditions, you may be
    entitled to Child Tax Credit and/or Working Tax
    Credit.

89
Eligibility Low Income, Saving not count
  • The amount you receive depends on how much money
    you have coming into your household each year.
  • If you have any savings, they will not affect
    your claim. However, if you receive interest from
    your savings this will be counted as income and
    may affect the amount you receive.
  • paid by the government but are processed by the
    Inland Revenue.

90
Who can get Child Tax Credit?
  • are aged 16 or over and are responsible for at
    least one child.
  • child aged under 16 or a qualifying young
    person up to the age of 19 who is in full-time
    education, or aged under 18 and finished full
    time education in the last 20 weeks and who has
    registered with the Careers service and
  • have gross income below 50,000 a year.

91
Who can get Working Tax Credit?
  • aged 16 or over, working 16 hours or more a week
    and
  • are responsible for a child or qualifying young
    person (If you are a woman on maternity leave and
    would normally work 16 hours or more a week, you
    can still claim Working Tax Credit) or

92
Who can get Working Tax Credit?   
  • are aged 16 or over, working 16 hours or more a
    week and have a disability for which your are
    receiving a qualifying benefit or
  • are aged 50 or over, working 16 hours or more a
    week and have started work up to three months
    before you make a claim and, for the six months
    before starting that work have been receiving one
    of certain benefits or
  • are aged 25 or over and working 30 hours or more
    a week.

93
How much Child Tax Credit will you get   
  • There is a maximum amount of Child Tax Credit you
    can get.
  • The amount is made up of different elements which
    are-
  • a family element which is paid to any family
    with responsibility for one or more children
  • a child element which is paid for each child or
    qualifying young person in the family.

94
Results of workfare
  • the evaluation literature suggests that these
    rules, if used intelligently and supported by
    effective sanctions, can help stimulate job
    search and serve to keep benefit claimants in
    touch with the labour market.
  • It is impossible at this stage to draw any
    definitive conclusions since most of the
    initiatives taken by countries are relatively
    recent and there are almost no rigorous
    evaluations of them available yet.

95
some scattered evidence UK
  • combining elements of carrots and sticks, can
    work in terms of producing better labour market
    outcomes for the unemployed.
  • The UK Restart programme, which was started in
    1987, can be viewed as a prototype for such
    strategies.
  • Under this programme, all persons unemployed for
    six months were obliged to attend a Restart
    interview at the PES. The interview assessed the
    individuals job-search behaviour and motivation
    and assisted them with availing of other services
    and programmes to help them find a job.

96
Workfare in UK
  • A rigorous evaluation indicated that Restart did
    work and, as a result, the periodicity of Restart
    interviews was increased during the 1990s.
  • The recent steps taken in Denmark to introduce
    activation strategies have been evaluated by the
    Danish authorities. Madsen (1998) argues that the
    preliminary evidence from the evaluations
    suggests that the activation strategies have
  • been successful in terms of improving employment
    prospects for the unemployed, especially for the
    young unemployed.

97
Workfare in USA 
  • many workfare experiments were designed and
    operated by individuals US states in the 1980s
    and 1990s in advance of the 1996 welfare reform.
  • Solow (1998) reviews the rigorous evaluation
    evidence on the effectiveness of these workfare
  • initiatives and concludes that they did have
    statistically significant effects in raising the
    employment and earnings prospects of welfare
    recipients, but the effects were not large.

98
Workfare in USA
  • Of course, as Solow recognises, one cannot
    generalise from the results of these individual
    workfare experiments to draw conclusions about
    the likely effects of the 1996 welfare reform.
  • There has been a sharp drop in welfare rolls
    since the reform, but there is an on-going debate
    as to how much of this decline is due to the
    booming US economy and how much to the policy
    changes.

99
Workfare in USA
  • Research by the Administration, summarised in
    OECD (1999c), suggests that almost one-third of
    the decline in welfare rolls since 1996 can be
    attributed to the reform, with most of the
    policy-induced effect being the result of
    sanctions for non-compliance.
  • In sum, while it is too early to judge the
    effectiveness of the range of activation
    strategies that have been introduced by some OECD
    countries in recent years, the early signs are
    quite promising.

100
Workfare in USA
  • It seems that a mix of carrot-and-stick elements
    in such strategies, combining use of active
    labour market policies and benefit sanctions in
    case of non-compliance, may well contribute to
    better labour market outcomes for benefit
    recipients.
  • However, other argues that the workfare just
    induce migration of unemployed from one state to
    another.
  •  
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