The German "Hartz reforms", introduced by the Red-Green coalition government in the years 2003 to 2005, form part of a broader pattern of European activation policies which have become known as "new labour" policies. The idea of these reforms was to reduce welfare dependency and to boost...

Similar to many other European countries, Germany's unemployment policy made a paradigm shift towards activation policy with a tightened monitoring and sanction regime. In our analysis, we examine the impact of benefit sanctions on the probability of getting employed or leaving the labor force....

Similar to numerous other European countries, Germany's unemployment policy went through a paradigm shift towards activation policy by tightening their monitoring and sanction regime. In our study we examine the impact of benefit sanctions on the probability of getting employed or leaving the...

Over the past two decades, federal and state policymakers have dramatically reshaped the nation's system of cash welfare assistance for low-income families. During this period, there has been considerable variation from state to state in approaches to welfare reform, which are often collectively...

Using exceptionally rich linked administrative and survey information on German welfare recipients we investigate the health effects of transitions from welfare to employment and of assignments to welfare-to-work programmes. Applying semi-parametric propensity score matching estimators we find...

The nation's best known welfare program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was created to give widows and destitute mothers the means to stay at home and care for children. However, the entry of large numbers of American mothers into the paid workforce has created increasing tension...

We analyse the effects of active social policy (ASP) on the dynamics of welfare dependence. We evaluate the impact of various ASP measures (employment and training) on the duration of welfare spells and subsequent employment spells, based on data from Denmark. The results show that employment...

This paper presents new information on activity-related eligibility criteria for unemployment and related benefits in OECD and EU countries in 2017, comparing the strictness of "demanding" elements built into unemployment benefits across countries and over time. Eligibility criteria for...

This paper presents new information on activity-related eligibility criteria for unemployment and related benefits in OECD- and EU-countries in 2017, comparing the strictness of “demanding” elements built into unemployment benefits across countries and over time. Eligibility criteria for...