Unemployment, wellbeing and the power of the work ethic: Implications for social policy

an article by Daniel Sage (Edge Hill University, England) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 39 Issue 2 (May 2019)

Abstract

Unemployment is associated with a range of health and social problems, such as poor physical health and well-being. Welfare state research has recently considered how social policies can ameliorate the harmful effects of unemployment.

This article argues that such policy suggestions disregard the role of the work ethic in shaping the experience of unemployment. In societies that glorify employment as a signifier of identity and status, it is unsurprising that those without employment suffer.

Previous research supports this view, showing how subscription to the work ethic is associated with wellbeing amongst unemployed people. Original analysis of the European Values Study confirms the importance of the work ethic, showing how unemployed people with weaker work ethics have significantly higher life satisfaction than those with stronger work ethics.

The article concludes that the most effective way of dealing with the deleterious effects of unemployment is to challenge the centrality of employment in contemporary societies.

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The Threat Effect of Active Labor Market Programs: A systematic review

an article by Trine Filges (The Danish National Centre for Social Research SFI Campell) and Anne Toft Hansen (The Danish National Centre for Social Research School and Education) published in Journal of Economic Surveys Volume 31 Issue 1 (February 2017)

Abstract

This paper is a systematic review of the threat effect of active labor market programs for unemployed individuals. The threat effect is the induced change in the hazard rate of leaving unemployment prior to program participation.

Studies included in the review all estimated a threat effect, with the participants in all cases being unemployed individuals in receipt of benefit of some kind during their tenure of unemployment.

Eight of these studies have been included in a meta-analysis: The meta-analysis, which has been carried out using a random effects model to account for heterogeneity, indicated a hazard ratio of 1.25 for the pooled estimate. We conclude that active labor market programs constitute a statistically significant threat effect, although it is modest.

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Active labor market programs - employment gain or fiscal drain?

an article by Alessio JG Brown (IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, Germany) and Johannes Koettl (The World Bank, Washington DC, USA) published in IZA Journal of Labor Economics Volume 4 Number 1 (2015)

Abstract

This paper provides a new perspective by classifying active labor market programs (ALMPs) depending on their objectives, relevance and cost-effectiveness during normal times, a crisis and recovery. We distinguish ALMPs providing incentives for retaining employment, incentives for creating employment, incentives for seeking and keeping a job, incentives for human capital enhancement and improved labor market matching. Reviewing evidence from the literature, we discuss especially indirect effects of various interventions and their cost-effectiveness. The paper concludes by providing a systematic overview of how, why, when and to what extent specific ALMPs are effective.

JEL codes: J08, J22, J23, J38, E24

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