Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Distributive consequences of risk privatization: The case of Swedish unemployment insurance system

Lindellee, Jayeon LU (2021) In Journal of Social Policy Research 66(3). p.207-235
Abstract
The public unemployment insurance program in Sweden has retrenched in terms of its benefit generosity in the last three decades. As a response to this trend in which an ever-smaller proportion of the previous income of unemployed persons is compensated by public unemployment insurance benefit, complementary income insurance schemes provided by unions have expanded rapidly in the last 15 years and currently cover one half of the working population. What does this change mean for people who are in need of income protection upon unemployment and who are more likely to frequently find themselves in unemployment or underemployment? By analyzing survey-based benefit recipiency data among retail workers who were unemployed in 2014 this article... (More)
The public unemployment insurance program in Sweden has retrenched in terms of its benefit generosity in the last three decades. As a response to this trend in which an ever-smaller proportion of the previous income of unemployed persons is compensated by public unemployment insurance benefit, complementary income insurance schemes provided by unions have expanded rapidly in the last 15 years and currently cover one half of the working population. What does this change mean for people who are in need of income protection upon unemployment and who are more likely to frequently find themselves in unemployment or underemployment? By analyzing survey-based benefit recipiency data among retail workers who were unemployed in 2014 this article explores the outcome of the multi-pillarized unemployment benefit provision system in Sweden. While public unemployment insurance benefit does not fully compensate for the income loss for the majority of retail workers, the promise of a complementary income insurance scheme seems to be illusory for many individuals as they constantly oscillate between precarious work and benefits accompanied by the burden of navigating a complex system. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Ghent system, Privatization, Retrenchment, Sweden, Unemployment insurance
in
Journal of Social Policy Research
volume
66
issue
3
article number
3
pages
207 - 235
publisher
De Gruyter
ISSN
2366-0295
DOI
10.1515/zsr-2020-0010
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ce46deeb-3a98-4f37-8cd0-89f9adf58af7
date added to LUP
2020-10-18 20:06:30
date last changed
2021-08-25 07:44:05
@article{ce46deeb-3a98-4f37-8cd0-89f9adf58af7,
  abstract     = {{The public unemployment insurance program in Sweden has retrenched in terms of its benefit generosity in the last three decades. As a response to this trend in which an ever-smaller proportion of the previous income of unemployed persons is compensated by public unemployment insurance benefit, complementary income insurance schemes provided by unions have expanded rapidly in the last 15 years and currently cover one half of the working population. What does this change mean for people who are in need of income protection upon unemployment and who are more likely to frequently find themselves in unemployment or underemployment? By analyzing survey-based benefit recipiency data among retail workers who were unemployed in 2014 this article explores the outcome of the multi-pillarized unemployment benefit provision system in Sweden. While public unemployment insurance benefit does not fully compensate for the income loss for the majority of retail workers, the promise of a complementary income insurance scheme seems to be illusory for many individuals as they constantly oscillate between precarious work and benefits accompanied by the burden of navigating a complex system.}},
  author       = {{Lindellee, Jayeon}},
  issn         = {{2366-0295}},
  keywords     = {{Ghent system; Privatization; Retrenchment; Sweden; Unemployment insurance}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{207--235}},
  publisher    = {{De Gruyter}},
  series       = {{Journal of Social Policy Research}},
  title        = {{Distributive consequences of risk privatization: The case of Swedish unemployment insurance system}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2020-0010}},
  doi          = {{10.1515/zsr-2020-0010}},
  volume       = {{66}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}