Natascha Van Mechelen

The Great Wake-Up Call? Social Citizenship and Minimum Income Provisions in Europe in Times of Crisis

When the 2008 crisis hit, social safety nets in Europe were not in the best of shape. This article examines what, if anything, governments did to adjust minimum income protection after two decades of relative neglect. In view of the hardship brought on by the crisis, this question is of importance in itself. In addition, there is a long-standing interest in the role crises play in re-shaping policies, possibly in a radical way. Building on purpose-collected data for twenty-four European countries, this article shows that many countries introduced supportive measures during the first years of the crisis, particularly in the form of additional benefit increases and more generous child benefits. Behavioural requirements imposed on minimum income recipients were not relaxed but in some countries activation efforts were intensified. Although the evidence shows that the crisis did trigger a response, there is little evidence for a structural change of course towards more adequate safety nets.

Universalism under siege? Exploring the association between targeting, child benefits and child poverty across 26 countries

The long-standing wisdom that universally designed benefits outperform targeted benefits in terms of poverty reduction has come under siege. Recent empirical studies tend to find that targeting is not necessarily associated anymore with lower levels of poverty reduction. In this study, we investigate for a broad set of European countries (1) the relationship between child benefits and child poverty reduction; (2) whether a universal or targeted approach is more effective in reducing child poverty; and (3) the causal mechanisms explaining the link between (1) and (2). In doing so, we take into account the general characteristics of the child benefit system, the size of the redistributive budget and the generosity of benefit levels. In contrast to previous studies, we construct an indicator of targeting that captures the design instead of the outcomes of child benefit systems. We find that targeting towards lower incomes is associated with higher levels of child poverty reduction, conditional on the direction of targeting and the characteristics of the benefit system.

Cracks in a policy paradigm – poverty reduction and social security: the case of Belgium

Poverty reduction rests on the mechanisms of horizontal and vertical solidarity and on prevention and repair of social risks. In this contribution, we argue that in contemporary welfare states the poverty-reducing capacity of existing social security systems has inherent limitations. Focusing on Belgium, we present and discuss empirical indications of a persistent (over a period of at least 30 years) decline in poverty reduction through social transfers, particularly among households who are highly dependent on such transfers. Firstly, we show that prevention and repair have failed to contribute to a reduction in the proportion of work-poor households who are highly dependent upon social security and face a high (rising even) poverty risk. Secondly, we find that given the fragmentation of social risks – in terms of both ex post poverty outcomes and ex ante social stratification – horizontal redistributive mechanisms through risk pooling have become less obvious, especially in respect of unemployment. Thirdly, it appears that the mechanisms of vertical solidarity also face inherent limitations. In a final section we summarise some important research questions for the future and potentially worthwhile policy avenues to resolve the question of how social policy-making might succeed in the future where it has failed in the past.

Towards Minimum Income Protection in Europe: Budgetary and Political Obstacles to Overcome

A commonly heard proposal in academic and policy circles alike is for the introduction of an obligation for all Member States to guarantee a dignified minimum income to their citizens. The accelerated integration that has taken place over the past two decades, the consistent and repeated presence of the necessity of adequate minimum income protection in European political discourse, and the EU2020 poverty targets strongly suggest that, if a decisive step is ever made towards binding measures in the field of social security, then it is quite likely to involve arrangements regarding minimum incomes. In this article we consider the impact of the introduction of such an arrangement at the European level. We identify four obstacles to overcome. First is the uncertainty over the most appropriate way of defining an adequate minimum income. Secondly, the budgetary burden of raising social assistance benefits would be quite substantial, especially in the poorer Member States. Thirdly, improving minimum income protection for the unemployed would generate significant unemployment traps. Finally, it is argued that the legal, and especially the political, feasibility of a Directive on Minimum Income that would be legally binding for the Member States remains highly uncertain. We therefore conclude that, given the great heterogeneity between countries, any binding instrument on minimum income will have to be worded flexibly, introduced gradually, and implemented in unison with a convergence in activation measures and minimum wages. Arguably, in this context, priority should be given to measures aimed at covering the minimum costs of child-rearing, restricted in an initial phase to guaranteeing to all families with children an income equal to 40 per cent of median standardised income.