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Minimum income protection in the austerity tide

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  • Sarah Marchal
  • Ive Marx
  • Natascha Van Mechelen

Abstract

Scholarly literature is inconclusive on how economic crises impact on minimum income protection. Earlier studies found small increases in the generosity of safety nets at the onset of the crisis. Yet an increased focus on budget austerity substantially altered the social policy context. This paper assesses how minimum income floors weathered the austerity tide following the crisis using purpose-collected data for 23 EU countries. Generally, social assistance benefit trends did not deviate much from pre-crisis growth levels. Yet retrenchment did occur through more technical measures, the combined impact of which was quite significant in some countries. Jel codes: I380

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Marchal & Ive Marx & Natascha Van Mechelen, 2016. "Minimum income protection in the austerity tide," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-20, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izaels:v:5:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1186_s40174-016-0052-7
    DOI: 10.1186/s40174-016-0052-7
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    7. Natascha Van Mechelen & Sarah Marchal & Tim Goedemé & Ive Marx & Bea Cantillon, 2011. "The CSB-Minimum Income Protection Indicators dataset (CSB-MIPI)," Working Papers 1105, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Eichhorst, Werner & Bonin, Holger & Krause-Pilatus, Annabelle & Marx, Paul & Dolls, Mathias & Lay, Max, 2023. "Minimum Income Support Systems as Elements of Crisis Resilience in Europe," IZA Research Reports 137, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Luis Ayala & José María Arranz & Carlos García‐Serrano & Lucía Martínez‐Virto, 2021. "The effectiveness of minimum income benefits in poverty reduction in Spain," International Journal of Social Welfare, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 152-169, April.
    4. Hecht, Katharina & Savage, Mike & Summers, Kate, 2022. "Why isn’t there more support for progressive taxation of wealth? A sociological contribution to the wider debate," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120793, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Tess Penne & Tim Goedemé, 2019. "Putting inadequate incomes at the heart of food insecurity. A Study of the financial constraints to access a healthy diet in Europe," Working Papers 1910, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    6. de la Rica, Sara & Gorjón, Lucía, 2017. "Assessing the Impact of a Minimum Income Scheme in the Basque Country," IZA Discussion Papers 10867, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Favero, Fausto, 2020. "The Italian "Reddito di Cittadinanza" one year later," IPE Working Papers 146/2020, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    8. Roberto Iacono, 2017. "Minimum income schemes in Europe: is there a trade-off with activation policies?," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-15, December.
    9. Luis Ayala & Elena Bárcena-Martín, 2020. "Measuring Social Welfare Gains in Social Assistance Programs: An Application to European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 205-229, August.

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