Introduction

Over the last decade the provision of social security in the Netherlands has undergone a paradigmatic shift. The emphasis has moved from protection, through the provision of income and/or services to those who find themselves out of the labour market, to promoting participation through incentives to encourage people to provide for themselves by means of paid work (WRR, 1996; Teulings et al, 1997; van Berkel et al, 1999). The introduction of the Youth Employment Act (YEA), a workfare policy that became operative in 1992, can be seen as a key consequence of this shift. From the time of its introduction, people aged 18-22 who had been unemployed for six months were no longer entitled to a minimum income (a benefit), but rather to minimum job rights. In 1998 the YEA was merged with previously non-compulsory training and employment programmes for older long-term unemployed people through the Jobseeker's Employment Act (JEA). The results of this development are twofold. On the one hand, a workfare policy has been broadened out to include a wider range of recipients. On the other hand, the form of the policy has changed from ‘workfare’ to a broader form of ‘activity fare’. That is, elements that fall under the umbrella of the JEA include subsidised work and training, but also unpaid work activities (notably voluntary work). While the JEA has two main target groups: unemployed people aged under 23, and long-term unemployed people aged over 23, young people remain the major focus. The JEA does not apply to physically and/or mentally disabled people, for whom a separate employment programme exists. Mothers with children under five are not required to be available for work or to participate in the JEA. However, mothers are increasingly being stimulated to enter JEA, with part-time work and nursery placements being made available.

The policy's stated aims are:

For young unemployed people the JEA is a generic policy measure. Participation is compulsory for all. The government has committed itself to supplying sufficient subsidised employment and training opportunities. As applied to long-term unemployed people, however, workfare is discretionary and, currently, participation is enforced less rigorously.