Since the 1990s (Western) European welfare states have adopted a series of reforms aimed at promoting the return to employment of recipients of social assistance benefits. The economic crisis has prompted welfare states to cut the expenditures on enabling instruments and to opt increasingly for...

This paper compares sanctioning policies of 22 different EU member states to the national social policies and national social protection schemes. The comparison focuses on sanctions imposed on recipients of social assistance who do not comply with work-related obligations. For this purpose, this...