Erik Snel

The Silent Transformation of the Dutch Welfare State and the Rise of In-Work Poverty

For a long time in-work poverty was not associated with European welfare states. Recently, the topic has gained relevance as welfare state retrenchment and international competition in globalized economies has put increasing pressures on individuals and families. This book provides explanations as to why in-work poverty is high in certain countries and low in others.

Understanding Different Post-Return Experiences

Studies aimed at understanding different post-return experiences point at various factors that are involved. In this article, we show the importance of striving for a contextualized understanding of post-return experiences as different factors appear to be important in different cases. Our study sets out to seek the value of the theory of preparedness proposed by Cassarino and simultaneously contribute to further contextualization of this theory through a qualitative study conducted in Morocco. Drawing on 44 qualitative interviews with a diverse set of returned migrants we scrutinize how mechanisms related to intersections between factors commonly found to be important in the literature take shape to make different factors important in different cases. For example, we show how the ability to keep transnational contacts with the destination country after return adds to positive post-return experiences, but only for migrants with specific return motives. In doing so, this article contributes to theory specification and contextualization.

Multilevel governance from below: how Dutch cities respond to intra-EU mobility

ABSTRACT ‘Intra-EU mobility’ from new member states provides a governance challenge to European countries like the Netherlands. Freedom of movement within the EU enables mobility but also has important social consequences at the urban level in particular. This article discusses to what extent local, national and European governments have interacted in the governance of ‘intra-EU movement’ and how this has affected their policies regarding migrants from Central and Eastern Europe in particular. Focusing on the Dutch case, including the cities of The Hague and Rotterdam, this article shows a development from a decoupled relationship, to localist governance and only recently evidence of emerging ‘multilevel governance’. Speaking to the broader literature on multilevel governance, this article firstly shows that in spite of its broad theoretical application, multilevel governance should be seen as one of the varied types of governance in a multilevel setting. And secondly, it shows how and why local governments can play a key role in the bottom-up development of governance in a multilevel setting.

Class Position of Immigrant Workers in a Post-Industrial Economy: The Dutch Case

In this paper, the issue of changing labour-market opportunities and the position of members of minority groups in advanced service economies is addressed, focusing on the Dutch case. We distinguish between two social hierarchies, one of traditional ‘fordist’ occupations and one of post-fordist occupations. Compared to the native Dutch, all immigrant groups are over-represented at the bottom of the labour market, both in the fordist and in the post-industrial hierarchy. Increased immigrant labour-market participation in the 1990s was accompanied by a strong rise in the number of flexible labour contracts. Native Dutch also work more frequently on flexible labour contracts, but not to the same extent as immigrants. The lower occupational level of the Surinamese, Antilleans and other non-Western immigrants employed in post-industrial occupations can be attributed to their low educational level. This is not true, however, for Turks, Moroccans and other non-Western immigrants employed in fordist occupations. Their low occupational level can not be completely explained by their low educational level. The effects of changes in the economic structure differ for ethnic groups, depending on their past employment, their cultural capital and the institutional framework in which they have to operate.

Time and poverty revisited: A replication of Leisering and Leibfried

In the late 1990s, the German sociologists Leisering and Leibfried (1999) argued that most poverty is of a temporary nature. In their poverty study in the German city of Bremen, Leisering and Leibfried found that more than half of all social assistance claimants were out of poverty within a year. Based on their work, individualization theorists such as Giddens and Beck argue that ‘for most people poverty is only a temporary experience’. This article replicates Leisering and Leibfried’s study using statistical data about social assistance claiming in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In doing so we find significant numbers of short-term claimants (about 30 percent), as well as surprisingly large numbers of long-term claimants. One in four Rotterdam social assistance claimants is poor for at least 5 years – more than twice as many as Leisering and Leibfried found in their study. We also show that recurrent benefit spells, for Leisering and Leibfried another typical feature of contemporary poverty, is only the exception in Rotterdam. Leisering and Leibfried (and sociologists such as Giddens and Beck in their footsteps) are wrong in claiming that short poverty experiences are typical for poverty in late-modern society. Persistent poverty is still present in our age and in our cities.

From Bridgeheads to Gate Closers: How Migrant Networks Contribute to Declining Migration from Morocco to the Netherlands

A key finding of contemporary migration research relates to the crucial role of social networks and informal support within migrant networks in the initiation and the continuation of migration flows between sending and receiving countries (Massey, 1990; Massey et al., 2005; Epstein, 2008; Faist, 2010; Boyd and Nowak, 2013). Migrant networks encourage migration in numerous ways, both directly and indirectly. Whereas ‘pioneer’ migrants have to find their way to and in the destination country on their own, by facilitating their successors—giving, contributing to transport costs and providing access to housing and employment—they make migration easier and cheaper, and thus more attractive for potential new migrants. But previous migrants encourage migration also indirectly. Frequent home visits and transnational communication spread information about the benefits of migration and contribute to the rise of a ‘culture of migration’ in the home country. Bakewell and Jolivet (Chapter 9, in this volume) describe these personal or impersonal ‘messages’ from previous migrants to prospective migrants as ‘personal network feedback’ and ‘general broadcast feedback’. But in whatever way, migration networks contribute to migration up to the point that migration flows perpetuate, ‘independent of their initial conditions’ (Mabogunje, 1970, p. 14).

Economic Progress, Stagnation, or Decline? Occupational Mobility of Non-Eu Immigrants in Europe

Abstract Purpose To identify the trajectories of occupational mobility among non-EU immigrant workers in Europe and to test empirical data against neoclassical human capital theory that predicts upward occupational mobility and labor market segmentation theories proposing immigrant confinement to secondary segments. Methodology/approach Data from survey and semi-structured interviews (2,859 and 357, respectively) with immigrants from Brazil, Ukraine, and Morocco in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Norway. Multinomial regression analysis to test the likelihood of moving downward, upward, or stability and identify explanatory factors, complemented with qualitative evidence. Findings We found support for the thesis of segmented labor market theories of limited upward occupational mobility following migration. However, immigrants with longer residence in the destination country have higher chances of upward mobility compared to stability and downward mobility, giving also support for the neoclassical human capital theory. Frail legal status impacts negatively on upward mobility chances and men more often experience upward mobility after migration than women. Research limitations/implications Findings reflect the specific situation of immigrants from three origin countries in four destination areas and cannot be taken as representative. In the multinomial regression we cannot distinguish between cohort effects and duration of stay. Social implications Education obtained in the destination country is very important for migrants’ upward occupational mobility, bearing important policy implications with regards to migrants’ integration. Originality/value of paper Its focus on trajectories of mobility through migration looking at two important transitions: (1) from last occupation in the origin country to first occupation at destination and (2) from first occupation to current occupation and offers a wide cross-country comparison both in terms of origin and destination countries in Europe.

Migration Mechanisms of the Middle Range: On the Concept of Reverse Cumulative Causation

In a recent collection of articles on the significance of the work by the American sociologist R.K. Merton, Charles Tilly (2010, p. 55) argued for mechanism-based explanations of the middle range. In his own words, ‘mechanistic explanations offer a distinctive, superior grasp of how social processes actually work’. Tilly’s plea fits in a development in which mechanism-based explanations are increasingly gaining attention. This development is in response to shortcomings in causal explanations and is also expressive of the conviction that proper explanations should detail the ‘cogs and wheels’ or the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the causal process through which the outcomes to be explained are brought about (Elster, 1989; Hedstrom and Ylikoski, 2010; Tilly, 2005; 2010). Another important factor is the explicit interest in developing a theory of action that combines explanations at the macro-level with explanations at the micro-level (Coleman, 1986; 1990).

Werkende armen in Nederland

textabstractThe Netherlands has increasing numbers of working poor. Recent figures show that one in twenty working individuals in the Netherlands lives in a household below the poverty threshold. In Amsterdam, the in-work poverty risk is even higher than average; the reason for this research. The Amsterdam working poor are a heterogeneous category. Half of them have permanent contracts; a large minority works at least 30 hours a week. They work in sectors like transport, shops, catering, but also in public services. Many, but not all working poor are poorly educated. Are they the victims of activating labour market policies that push low-skilled workers on the labour market without escaping from poverty? This appears not to be the case. Less than half of the working poor in Amsterdam entered this situation after having a social benefit. The majority of these former social benefit claimants say they did not experience any pressure to accept low-paid work instead of a social benefit. The other working poor entered this situation from some other employment or directly from school. Respondents mention three factors as reasons of becoming working poor: physical or mental health problems, child care responsibilities, and deficient education. More often, it is a combination of unfavourable factors that results in in-work poverty.

Beyond Networks: Insights on Feedback and Mechanisms of the Middle Range

This book set out to explore how migration at one time influences the subsequent patterns of movement. As noted in Introduction, this tendency for people to move in particular directions apparently following the pathways laid out by those who travelled before is well established in the migration literature, with many empirical examples of these migration systems. In Introduction, Bakewell, Kubal and Pereira argue that much of the existing literature places great emphasis on migrants’ social networks as the principal factor generating these stable migration patterns, with little attempt to provide a clear definition of social networks or a detailed consideration of how they operate. Furthermore, existing work does little to explore the role of factors beyond networks.