Building Active Welfare States: How Policy Shapes Caseworker Practice

Active welfare states have a mission: making citizens self-sufficient via paid employment. In practice, this encompasses both "enabling" instruments such as training and intensive counseling, and "demanding" instruments like job-search monitoring and sanctions. This study takes an inside look at act [...]
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Active welfare states have a mission: making citizens self-sufficient via paid employment. In practice, this encompasses both "enabling" instruments such as training and intensive counseling, and "demanding" instruments like job-search monitoring and sanctions. This study takes an inside look at activation in three European welfare states: the Netherlands, Denmark, and Great Britain. Based on extensive interview material, the book gives a detailed analysis of how job-center caseworkers treat unemployed clients, co-build job-center organizations, and rationalize their activation strategies. By showing how caseworker actions are systematically shaped by the policy environment, the book offers valuable insights for researchers and practitioners involved in activation.