Bringing the Jobless into Work An Introduction to Activation Policies

The general trend towards activation has been one of the major issues in recent welfare and labour market reforms in Europe and the US. In many of these countries this issue has dominated the socio-economic and legal debate. Despite considerable variation across national models with respect to the scope and intensity of activation, it is evident that redefining the link between social protection and labour market policies on the one hand and employment on the other has been a common issue in labour market reforms. 

Activation does not necessarily imply benefit cuts or the introduction of new active labour market policy schemes, but crucial is the fact that benefit receipt is made more conditional upon job search activities, acceptance of available job offers or participation in active labour market policy schemes both in formal terms and actual implementation. First movers in the field of activation were the Anglo-Saxon welfare systems of the United States and the UK, followed by Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. More recently, France and Sweden have been catching up. It thus seems fair to say that activation has now become a common orientation in labour market and social policies that not only spreads across countries but also covers more and more benefit schemes. 

---

Bringing the Jobless into Work An Introduction to Activation Policies... 

---