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Rise up and Work! Workless People with Impaired Health under Germany's New Activation Regime

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2010

Martin Brussig  and
Matthias Knuth
Martin Brussig
Affiliation:
Institute for Work and Employment, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany E-mail: martin.brussig@uni-due.de
Matthias Knuth
Affiliation:
Institute for Work and Employment, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany E-mail: matthias.knuth@uni-due.de
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Abstract

‘Unemployment Benefit II’ (Arbeitslosengeld II) is the newly created benefit in Germany for workless and needy people of working age who either lack or have exhausted entitlements in the contribution-based unemployment insurance system. This paper explores the effects of an ‘activating’ benefit regime on respondents with inferior health-related capacities by re-analysing data from a recent customer panel survey of this population of recipients. For one, the overall level of activation produced by the new system is differentiated with regard to the health status of the target population. Second, the effects of activation on two employment-related outcomes are estimated, taking health into account.

Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , July 2010 , pp. 311 - 323
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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