Active Labour Market Research Articles

Considering the benefits of hosting refugees: evidence of refugee camps influencing local labour market activity and economic welfare in Rwanda

This paper examines the influence of Congolese refugees on host communities in Rwanda, with a focus on labour market activity and economic welfare. The analysis takes advantage of newly collected survey data from three refugee camps and their surrounding areas to compare individuals and households within communities at various distances from, and therefore exposure to, the refugee population. We find evidence that residing close to a refugee camp makes it more likely that an individual is engaged in wage employment in comparison to farming or livestock production, representing a shift away from subsistence farming activities. In addition, there is evidence that females living nearby a camp have a higher occurrence of self-employment in business both as a primary and secondary activity, highlighting a notable gender-specific dynamic. Likewise, living in close proximity to a camp is associated with greater household asset ownership, benefiting both male- and female-headed households similarly, whereas no relationship is found in regard to ones’ subjective perception of their household’s economic situation. These generally encouraging results illustrate that refugees need not be a burden to their host societies, and their presence results in direct and indirect benefits.

Disabling discourses and ableist assumptions: Reimagining social justice through education for disabled people through a critical discourse analysis approach

Responding to the special issue call Capital and Capability, this paper undertakes a critical policy analysis of a recently published Irish labour market activation strategy for people with disabilities through a discourse analytical framework. Drawing on a disability studies lens informed by Foucault’s theory of discourse, the study reveals a hegemonic policy rhetoric within the pages of this policy document that is deeply embedded in neoliberal assumptions about the role and value of education. Through a critical disability studies lens, this study draws attention to the concepts of disablism and neoliberal ableism, whilst highlighting in particular how rhetoric is a means by which ableist culture perpetuates itself. In response to the disparities surrounding the employment of disabled people, the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities 2015–2024was launched into policy in October 2015. This strategy represents a significant policy event in the Irish disability policy landscape, warranting further questioning, interrogation and analysis. This paper aims to reveal the framework of thinking that lies within the discursive contours of this strategy and to assess the implications therein for inclusive education policy and practice. In keeping with the aim of the special issue, the study explores the potential of a capabilities approach in creating a discursive policy space where social justice througheducation for disabled people can be imagined.

The Great Recession and Children's Mental Health in Australia.

This paper analyzes the effects of “shocks” to community-level unemployment expectations, induced by the onset of the Great Recession, on children’s mental well-being. The Australian experience of the Great Recession represents a unique case study as despite little change in actual unemployment rates, levels of economic uncertainty grew. This affords us the ability to examine the effects of shocks to economic expectations independent of any actual changes to economic conditions. We draw on and link data from multiple sources, including several waves of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (2004–2010), a consumer sentiment survey, and data on local economic conditions. Using our purpose-built data set, we estimate difference-in-differences models to identify plausibly causal effects. We find, for boys, there is no detectable effect of community-level unemployment expectations shocks on mental health. For girls, however, there are modest increases in mental health problems and externalizing behaviors, as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). We additionally find no discernible change in mother’s psychological distress as a result of expectations shocks. These results are stable after controlling for actual labor market conditions.

Service Integration in Hard Times: Merging Social Welfare and Labour Activation Measures

The creation of Intreo as a one-stop shop for jobseekers in Ireland occurred during the financial and sovereign debt crisis period of 2010–16. The organisational merger was the product of an extensive programme of successful administrative reorganisation and service integration that deserves attention. This article begins with an overview of the policy to merge insurance-based unemployment benefit, discretionary social welfare payments and labour market activation measures, as well as the various political and institutional rationales that led to this development. Drawing on the special issue framework concerning how the interaction of ideology, institutions and interests comes into play during policy change, we consider the contextual factors that facilitated the rapid implementation of the programme and its overall successful execution. Whilst focusing on the success, we also critically point out the shortcomings in the implementation chain, some of which predated the crisis, as well as problems during the implementation process, such as delays in the national rollout and back-office supports. We identify the main contributing factors for successful implementation of a one-stop shop for activation and unemployment services as (a) a high problem pressure, (b) a small and agile implementation team, (c) changing labour relations (e.g. binding arbitration, weakened unions) and (d) a modern communication strategy.

How history matters: The emergence and persistence of structural conflict between academic and vocational education: The case of post-Soviet Estonia

The article deals with the structural conflict between academic and vocational postcompulsory secondary education involving the negative selection to vocational education. The conflict is treated from the historical perspective with the aim of explaining historical factors and social mechanisms that have contributed to the persistence of the conflict to the present day. The theoretical framework combines neoinstitutionalism and historical sociology. We argue that the historical developmental path of the education system has played a significant role in the emergence of the above-mentioned structural conflict, and the principal mechanism of institutional persistence lies with cultural-cognitive institutions. As a result of systematic historical path analysis, we can conclude that Khrushchev’s educational reform in the 1960s instigated a pattern of negative selection to vocational education that has persisted despite radical societal changes related to the post-Soviet transition. However, not only historically evolved understandings but also the interactions between them and actual labour market outcomes of vocational education seem to function as the main reinforcing mechanisms.

Can Ethics be Taught? Evidence from Securities Exams and Investment Adviser Misconduct

We study the consequences of a 2010 change in the investment adviser qualification exam that reallocated coverage from the rules and ethics section to the technical material section. Comparing advisers with the same employer in the same location and year, we find those passing the exam with more rules and ethics coverage are one-fourth less likely to commit misconduct. The exam change appears to affect advisers’ perception of acceptable conduct, and not just their awareness of specific rules or selection into the qualification. Those passing the rules and ethics-focused exam are more likely to depart employers experiencing scandals. Such departures also predict future scandals. Our paper offers the first archival evidence on how rules and ethics training affects conduct and labor market activity in the financial sector.

Implementation of Government Programs in Facilitating Employment Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities in Special Region of Yogyakarta

The level of welfare of persons with disabilities is still relatively low. This is partly due to limited access to employment opportunities. Special Region of Yogyakarta through Regional Regulation Number 4 of 2012 has made serious efforts to protect and fulfill the rights of persons with disabilities, particularly in the field of work. However, the employment of persons with disabilities in the formal sector is still low. Evidently, the results of monitoring the Special Region of Yogyakarta’s Manpower and Transmigration Office in 2016, only 24 of 325 companies that have employed persons with disabilities. Therefore, this study aims to examine the Yogyakarta Special Region government program in facilitating employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. Special Region of Yogyakarta’s Social Service through the activities of the Mobile Social Services Unit; providing motivation and strengthening social mentality; skills guidance; Training in Loka Bina Karya; Job Learning Practices; and some capital activities have been carried out to prepare workers with disabilities. However, skills training is considered to be traditional in nature and only trains basic-level abilities. Thus, the competencies of persons with disabilities do not match the qualifications required by the company. In addition, the unavailability of accessibility is also the reason companies have not employed workers with disabilities. Furthermore, the Department of Manpower and Transmigration Special Region of Yogyakarta conducts disability-friendly labor market activities in collaboration with non-governmental organizations to increase employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. Promoting and giving rewards to companies is also carried out to encourage the absorption of workers with disabilities in the formal sector. However, there are still many companies/agencies that have not employed persons with disabilities in accordance with the mandate of Law Number 8 of 2016.

Does homeownership hinder labor market activity? Evidence from housing privatization and restitution in Brno

We study the effects of homeownership on labor force participation and unemployment. We exploit housing privatization and restitution after the fall of communism as a source exogenous assignment of homeowner/renter status, using a unique dataset from the city of Brno, Czech Republic. We do not find any evidence of homeownership hindering labor force participation. In fact, our estimates suggest that homeownership reduces unemployment by four to six percentage points. Homeownership appears to decrease the risk of unemployment by about one third to one half, relative to renters. The estimated effects on labor force participation are systematically around zero.

Does Homeownership Hinder Labor Market Activity? Evidence From Housing Privatization and Restitution in Brno.

We study the effects of homeownership on labor force participation and unemployment. We exploit housing privatization and restitution after the fall of communism as a source exogenous assignment of homeowner/renter status, using a unique dataset from the city of Brno, Czech Republic. We do not find any evidence of homeownership hindering labor force participation. In fact, our estimates suggest that homeownership reduces unemployment by four to six percentage points. Homeownership appears to decrease the risk of unemployment by about one third to one half, relative to renters. The estimated effects on labor force participation are systematically around zero.

Motherhood Penalties in the U.S., 1986–2014

ObjectiveThis article aims to determine whether the wage penalty for motherhood changed in the United States between 1986 and 2014 and to assess the relative impact of education and experience on the penalty over time.BackgroundMothers earn less than childless women. Although mothers' educational levels and labor market experience have increased over time, most studies do not analyze the motherhood penalty over time.MethodThis article uses ordinary least squares and fixed effects regressions to estimate the motherhood penalty in three time periods (1986–1995, 1996–2004, and 2006–2014) and compares the penalty across time periods. The data used in the analysis are from the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics, one of the only nationally representative data sets that contains a measure of actual labor market experience.ResultsThe motherhood penalty remains quite stable over time and may have worsened for mothers with one child. The gross gap in pay between childless women and mothers of two or more children has narrowed only because mothers' have increased their investments in human capital, such as education and workforce experience. Ordinary least squares and fixed effects models provide similar results.ConclusionMothers' human capital investment may not be enough to lower the motherhood wage penalty in the United States.

A prelude to the dual provider family – The changing role of female labor force participation and occupational field on fertility outcomes during the baby boom in Sweden 1900–60

ABSTRACT By investigating changes in the association between women’s socioeconomic status, labor market activity and fertility outcomes during the Swedish baby boom 1900–60 this study reaches three main conclusions. First, the results show that a convergence of fertility behavior occurred across female socioeconomic strata during the peak baby boom period in the 1940s and 1950s in terms of a strong two child norm. Second, the negative socio-economic gradient of fertility found in Sweden before the baby boom declined sharply among women who came of age during the 1940s and 1950s, as white-collar women increased their fertility more than all the other strata. Third, this was especially the case for women engaged in the so called ‘caring professions’ that exhibit the largest changes in behavior. The pattern found in contemporary Western contexts where women in healthcare and education have a substantially higher fertility was thus formed in Sweden already during the 1940s and 1950s. The empirical finding fit with the interpretation that middle-class women employed in the public sector experienced stronger reductions in constraints to family formation compared to women employed in the private sector. We propose that the pronatalist polices implemented in the 1930s and 1940s, especially the extensive improvements in employment protection implemented for women who got married or became pregnant in the late 1930s in Sweden, is one important factor to consider when we try to understand why especially women employed in the public sector in education and healthcare increased their fertility more than other groups.

Impacts of Dengue Epidemics on Household Labor Market Outcomes

AbstractExisting research on household‐level dengue impacts only assesses families of individuals with disease. However, behavioral and economic factors affect all households within an epidemic region. I assess changes in work hours among males and females in Iquitos, Peru, during intermittent dengue epidemics from 2005–2010. Epidemics are associated with large decreases in work hours for men and women who work. Females reduce hours more than males, and reduce hours when no household members report illness. The findings suggest that current government interventions aimed at reducing transmission during epidemics may inadvertently deter labor market activity. This research contributes to the infectious disease literature by separately assessing the impacts of epidemics on males and females in all households in an affected region.

Satisfied With Less? Mismatch Between Subjective and Objective Position of Immigrants and Native-Born Men and Women in the Labor Market

The current study introduces a new mismatch concept in labor studies, the mismatch between subjective work perceptions and actual labor market position, and examines it from the perspectives of gender, ethnic and migration. This mismatch, positive or negative, was examined among men and women from different ethnic groups in Israel, both immigrants and native-born. The analyses were conducted on 9,923 employees using the Israeli CBS Social Surveys (2013-2015). The results reveal that the gender effect is more prominent than the ethnicity and migration effect. In general, women were more satisfied with their actual position in the labor market (positive subjective mismatch) than men, and men were less satisfied with their actual position in the labor market (negative subjective mismatch) than women. A positive subjective mismatch was also found among men from disadvantaged ethnic and immigrant groups. The multivariate analyses revealed that after controlling for socio-economic variables, ethnic differences declined among both men and women. Possible explanations are discussed, primarily based on the notion of relative well-being in respect to workers' expectations.

Housing Voucher Take-Up and Labor Market Impacts.

Low participation rates in government assistance programs are a major policy concern in the United States. This paper studies take-up of Section 8 housing vouchers, a program in which take-up rates are quite low among interested and eligible households. We link 18,109 households in Chicago that were offered vouchers through a lottery to administrative data and study how baseline employment, earnings, public assistance, arrests, residential location, and children's academic performance predict take-up. Our analysis finds mixed evidence of whether the most disadvantaged or distressed households face the largest barriers to program participation. We also study the causal impact of peer behavior on take-up by exploiting idiosyncratic variation in the timing of voucher offers. We find that the probability of lease-up increases with the number of neighbors who recently received voucher offers. Finally, we explore the policy implications of increasing housing voucher take-up by applying reweighting methods to existing causal impact estimates of voucher receipt. This analysis suggests that greater utilization of vouchers may lead to larger reductions in labor market activity. Differences in take-up rates across settings may be important to consider when assessing the external validity of studies identifying the effects of public assistance programs.

“We Are Small, But We Have Jobs”: A Profile of the Labour Activities of Children and Youth in South Africa

ABSTRACTStarting from young ages, children and youth are dealing with adult problems such as poverty and food security. For this reason, children and youth enter the labour market earlier than expected, compromising their scholastic performance and future earnings if they drop out of school. This study profiles the children and youth of South Africa who are engaged in labour market activities using a nationally representative cross-sectional survey. The characteristics of this sub-population are shown, as well as the types of work, remuneration and co-activities are investigated. Most of the children and youth engaged in labour activities are not in school, and many are working as street vendors. Also, the likelihood of engaging in labour activity is high if there is no father in the household. Steps need to be taken to keep children in school and not working in the informal economy.

The (in)adequacy of in-work benefits in Irish lone parent labour market activation policy

In-work benefits (IWBs) are important in ‘making work pay’ for many low-income families. We consider the adequacy of Family Income Supplement (FIS) for Irish lone parents transitioning from social protection to paid employment. Drawing on interviews with lone parents and with stakeholders, FIS enables some lone parents to meet basic needs and move towards financial independence, there were also difficulties, and many are financially better off remaining on social protection. There is a need, either for significant changes or for the introduction of an alternative IWB to meet the requirements of lone parents transitioning from social protection to ensure that they are not living in poverty.

Non-Economic Factors Affecting Employment in Non-Governmental Organizations

Summary Subject and purpose of work: The aim of the paper is to identify non-economic factors influencing employment in non-governmental organizations in the Subcarpathian Province. Materials and methods: Surveys were conducted in a group of 30 people managing non-governmental organizations. Results: In the Subcarpathian Province, the factors not connected to economy that encourage involvement in the work of non-governmental organisations include education, marital status, labour market activity, gender, religiousness, and moral authority associated with charitable activities. The factors such as age, personal experience of difficult life situations, or observing charity activities done by family members and friends have an insignificant effect on the involvement in the work of nongovernmental entities. Conclusions: The activities of state institutions of social policy whose goal is to increase the participation of citizens in the third sector entities should aim to give them an opportunity of obtaining the highest level of education possible, stable employment in the labour market, as well as creating conditions for families to function properly. Moreover, public institutions should conduct social campaigns to show citizens that working in the third sector enriches their social and personal life.

Occupational classifications: A machine learning approach

Characterizing people’s occupations is important for both policy and research. However, as large scale administrative records are increasingly being used to describe labor market activity, it will become important to find new automated approaches to

How Do Older Laid-Off Workers Get By: Reemployment, Early Retirement, or Social Insurance Benefits?

We investigate the post-layoff configuration of income sources and pathways of prime-age and older laid-off workers exhibiting a high degree of prior attachment. Using a unique Canadian administrative database that links the event of the involuntary layoff with detailed data on income receipt, we track all of their sources of income over an interval spanning five years after layoff. We conduct a multivariate statistical analysis of the incidence of relying on income from several alternative sources, specifically early retirement (both public and private), reemployment, self-employment, or reliance on social insurance benefits (other than pensions). The two most common states for laid-off workers who have not yet reached normal retirement age are early retirement and continued labour market activity. Our findings indicate that the older workers are at the point of layoff, the greater the likelihood is that they will rely on pension income as their primary income source. This incidence of reliance on pension income also increases with the number of years elapsed since the point of layoff.

Activation policies in action

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the process that occurs within public employment offices (PEOs) and its consequences for unemployed people. Specifically, it analysed some practices needed to implement activation programmes developed in some PEO in Lombardy (Italy) and the role of front-line officers, promoting a dialogue between the literature on activation policies on one hand and the literature on street-level bureaucracy on the other.Design/methodology/approachThe fieldwork has been conducted in Lombardy, which is one of most economically developed areas both in Italy and in Europe. The empirical research integrated quantitative and qualitative research tools; specifically a CATI survey of 994 persons; participant and non-participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and an analysis of documents in four PEOs.FindingsThe paper describes and analyses both practices needed to implement activation programmes and the perceptions of the social actors (unemployed people and front-line officers) who build and address these practices daily. Specifically, the attention is focussed on the different forms of discretion used by PEOs’ front-line officers and a mix of technical, relational and psychological support received in the PEOs. Moreover, the authors noticed that the front-line officers’ discretion seemed to be more limited in those parts of the activation process in which it should be more relevant, that is, the identification of training courses aimed at increasing unemployed workers’ skills. Notwithstanding these limits, many users expressed positive opinions of these courses, which could be explained by secondary functions of training courses.Research limitations/implicationsThe qualitative portion of the fieldwork has limited generalisability because it focussed on few PEOs.Practical implicationsThe findings are relevant to policy makers who deal with activation policies and to public and private organisations that implement those policies.Originality/valueMany studies have analysed the implementation of the welfare-to-work model that has oriented the reforms of labour market activation policies in most countries, focussing on the more tangible outcomes (essentially their efficacy in terms of re-employment rates). A growing stream of recent literature has begun to place more attention on the non-economic consequences of activation programmes, focussing mainly on countries with quite a long tradition of activation policies while remaining scant in countries where the implementation of activation programmes is still fragmented and more recent (like Italy). This paper aims to begin filling this gap by improving the knowledge on some non-economic consequences of activation programmes, focussing on user-officer relations and on daily practices in PEOs.