Generous welfare benefits don’t discourage people from working, latest scientific evidence shows
In most rural local authority districts there is a correlation between low wages and high levels of employment. You might think low wages were a disincentive to work and to draw benefits. This story adds still more intrigue to the drivers of employment by suggesting there is no correlation between high benefits and people’s working habits. Perhaps we need to think more widely than a punitive connection between “tough love” in the benefits systems and getting more people back to work. This is particularly relevant in rural places where the stock of jobs in some areas is low or non-existent. How about thinking about the correlation between the entrepreneurial skills of rural people and the creation of rural jobs?
Generous welfare benefits actually make people more likely to want work, not less, according to the latest scientific research into the matter.
A new study, published in the journal Work, Employment and Society, flies in the face of conventional wisdom in Britain – where a narrative that people become ‘trapped on benefits’ has taken hold amongst commentators
Researchers asked 19,000 people across 18 European countries whether they agreed with the statement “I would enjoy having a paid job even if I did not need the money”.
They found that people in countries with more generous unemployment and sickness benefits were significantly more likely to have a positive attitude towards getting a job.
“Many scholars and commentators fear that generous social benefits threaten the sustainability of the welfare state due to work norm erosion, disincentives to work and dependency cultures,” the researchers said.
“[This study] concludes that there are few signs that groups with traditionally weaker bonds to the labour market are less motivated to work if they live in generous and activating welfare states.”