Making the Poor Work : Social Assistance and Activation in Sweden
(2004) In Lund Dissertations in Social Work- Abstract
- Management of poor relief and work demands have been controversial questions in social policy during the workhouse era of the nineteenth century as well as in current discussions on social assistance and activation of recipients. The first part contains a discussion on the concepts of poverty, marginalisation, and social exclusion, and continues with an overview of activation policies for recipients of social assistance.
Social assistance in Sweden developed in the 1980s in the direction of an income guarantee for all citizens. During the 1990s, policies have changed towards activation and control. The growth of the recipient population is described. Occasional receipt of social assistance has been rather common and not... (More) - Management of poor relief and work demands have been controversial questions in social policy during the workhouse era of the nineteenth century as well as in current discussions on social assistance and activation of recipients. The first part contains a discussion on the concepts of poverty, marginalisation, and social exclusion, and continues with an overview of activation policies for recipients of social assistance.
Social assistance in Sweden developed in the 1980s in the direction of an income guarantee for all citizens. During the 1990s, policies have changed towards activation and control. The growth of the recipient population is described. Occasional receipt of social assistance has been rather common and not limited to extremely disadvantaged groups. Long-term and permanent receipt of social assistance has increased considerably during the 1990s, often in combination with a marginal labour market position, and without eligibility for social insurance, which is strongly work-related. The main direction of the process is problems of entry to the labour market rather than exclusion of the already established. Results on scope, duration and patterns of social assistance are presented and analysed in relation to the labour market and immigration.
The city of Malmö is described and analysed as an example of a development towards increasing labour market marginalisation and long-term receipt of social assistance, with special attention to the disadvantaged and segregated areas of the city. This development has to large extent been determined by external factors as global economic change and migration.
Activation programs are often proposed as a solution to these problems. Evaluation methods and results from effect evaluations of such programs are discussed in the last part of the work. Results from an evaluation of activation programs in Malmö are presented. According to the available evidence, such programs have quite modest effects on work and income and structural change is necessary to reduce social exclusion. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Utformningen av fattigvården och de arbetskrav man ställer på mottagarna har alltid varit kontroversiella frågor i socialpolitiken, såväl under fattig- och arbetshusens tidsålder under 1800-talet, som i nuvarande diskussioner om socialbidrag och aktivering av bidragstagarna. Den första delen av avhandlingen diskuterar begreppen fattigdom, marginalisering och social uteslutning (social exclusion), och fortsätter med en genomgång av aktivringsåtgärder för mottagare av socialbidrag.
Socialbidraget utvecklades i Sverige under 1980-talet i riktning mot en allmän inkomstgaranti för medborgarna. Politiken förändrades under 1990-talet i riktning mot aktivering och kontroll. Den... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Utformningen av fattigvården och de arbetskrav man ställer på mottagarna har alltid varit kontroversiella frågor i socialpolitiken, såväl under fattig- och arbetshusens tidsålder under 1800-talet, som i nuvarande diskussioner om socialbidrag och aktivering av bidragstagarna. Den första delen av avhandlingen diskuterar begreppen fattigdom, marginalisering och social uteslutning (social exclusion), och fortsätter med en genomgång av aktivringsåtgärder för mottagare av socialbidrag.
Socialbidraget utvecklades i Sverige under 1980-talet i riktning mot en allmän inkomstgaranti för medborgarna. Politiken förändrades under 1990-talet i riktning mot aktivering och kontroll. Den betydande ökningen av antalet bidragstagare beskrivs. Tillfälligt behov av socialbidrag har varit ganska vanligt och inte begränsat till extremt utsatta grupper. Det långvariga socialbidraget har blivit betydligt vanligare under 1990-talet, ofta i kombination med en marginell ställning på arbetsmarknaden och utan att bidragsmottagaren har rätt till ersättning från socialförsäkringarna, som är starkt arbetsrelaterade. Problemen har framför allt handlat om många haft svårigheter att etablera sig på arbetsmarknaden, snarare än att de som redan är etablerade har uteslutits. Avhandlingen beskriver omfattning, varaktighet och mönster av socialbidragstagande och dessa analyseras i förhållande till arbetsmarknad och invandring.
Förhållandena i Malmö beskrivs och analyseras som ett exempel på en utveckling mot ökande marginalisering på arbetsmarknaden och en ökning av det långvariga socialbidragstagandet, med speciell hänsyn till de utsatta och segregerade delarna av staden. Denna utveckling har i stor utsträckning bestämts av externa omständigheter som ekonomisk förändring och omflyttning.
Aktiveringsåtgärder betraktas ofta som en lösning på dessa problem. Metoder för utvärdering och tidigare utvärderingar av aktiveringsprogram diskuteras i den sista delen av avhandlingen. En utvärdering av aktiveringsprojekt för socialbidragstagare i Malmö presenteras också. Tillgänglig kunskap visar att sådana program har en ganska måttlig effekt på deltagarnas sysselsättning och inkomster och att strukturell förändring är nödvändig för att minska den sociala uteslutningen. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/21816
- author
- Giertz, Anders LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Hornemann Møller, Iver, Copenhagen Business School
- organization
- publishing date
- 2004
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- unemployment, social assistance, activation, welfare-to-work, marginalisation, social exclusion, Social problems and welfare, immigration, national insurance, Sociala problem, social välfärd, socialförsäkring
- in
- Lund Dissertations in Social Work
- pages
- 239 pages
- publisher
- School of Social Work, Lund University
- defense location
- Edebalksalen, Socialhögskolan, Bredgatan 26
- defense date
- 2004-06-11 10:15:00
- ISSN
- 1650-3872
- ISBN
- 91-89604-25-3
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 3dcf07d7-9a28-4133-bcd1-a3920a5df507 (old id 21816)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:34:57
- date last changed
- 2021-12-02 16:04:59
@phdthesis{3dcf07d7-9a28-4133-bcd1-a3920a5df507,
abstract = {{Management of poor relief and work demands have been controversial questions in social policy during the workhouse era of the nineteenth century as well as in current discussions on social assistance and activation of recipients. The first part contains a discussion on the concepts of poverty, marginalisation, and social exclusion, and continues with an overview of activation policies for recipients of social assistance.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Social assistance in Sweden developed in the 1980s in the direction of an income guarantee for all citizens. During the 1990s, policies have changed towards activation and control. The growth of the recipient population is described. Occasional receipt of social assistance has been rather common and not limited to extremely disadvantaged groups. Long-term and permanent receipt of social assistance has increased considerably during the 1990s, often in combination with a marginal labour market position, and without eligibility for social insurance, which is strongly work-related. The main direction of the process is problems of entry to the labour market rather than exclusion of the already established. Results on scope, duration and patterns of social assistance are presented and analysed in relation to the labour market and immigration.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The city of Malmö is described and analysed as an example of a development towards increasing labour market marginalisation and long-term receipt of social assistance, with special attention to the disadvantaged and segregated areas of the city. This development has to large extent been determined by external factors as global economic change and migration.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Activation programs are often proposed as a solution to these problems. Evaluation methods and results from effect evaluations of such programs are discussed in the last part of the work. Results from an evaluation of activation programs in Malmö are presented. According to the available evidence, such programs have quite modest effects on work and income and structural change is necessary to reduce social exclusion.}},
author = {{Giertz, Anders}},
isbn = {{91-89604-25-3}},
issn = {{1650-3872}},
keywords = {{unemployment; social assistance; activation; welfare-to-work; marginalisation; social exclusion; Social problems and welfare; immigration; national insurance; Sociala problem; social välfärd; socialförsäkring}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{School of Social Work, Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Dissertations in Social Work}},
title = {{Making the Poor Work : Social Assistance and Activation in Sweden}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4715275/1693304.pdf}},
year = {{2004}},
}