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Do Active Labour Market Policies Promote the Subjective Well-Being of the Unemployed? Evidence from the UK National Well-Being Programme

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  • Daniel Sage

Abstract

In the past 5 years, the UK government has expanded its efforts to understand, measure and incorporate indicators of subjective well-being (SWB) into the policy-making process. Utilizing the new data collected as part of the government’s well-being agenda, this paper investigates whether active labour market programmes (ALMPs) are associated with increased SWB amongst the unemployed. Unemployment has long been shown to be detrimental to mental health and happiness. In recent years, ALMPs have been increasingly proposed as potential mechanisms to improve the SWB of the unemployed. Using multiple linear regression models, the findings suggest that ALMPs do improve the SWB of the unemployed. However, there are three caveats. First, the effect of ALMPs appears to be far stronger for evaluative measures of SWB over affective measures. Second, the effect of ALMPs is larger for men than for women. Third, the impact of an ALMP is dependent upon the type of intervention: work-oriented ALMPs are more effective than employment-assistance ALMPs. In light of these findings, the theoretical and policy consequences are discussed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

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  • Daniel Sage, 2015. "Do Active Labour Market Policies Promote the Subjective Well-Being of the Unemployed? Evidence from the UK National Well-Being Programme," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1281-1298, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:16:y:2015:i:5:p:1281-1298
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-014-9549-9
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    1. Alic Birca, 2023. "Active Labor Market Policies In The Republic Of Moldova: Implications For Increasing Employment," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1, pages 77-85, February.
    2. Senhu Wang & Adam Coutts & Brendan Burchell & Daiga KamerÄ de & Ursula Balderson, 2021. "Can Active Labour Market Programmes Emulate the Mental Health Benefits of Regular Paid Employment? Longitudinal Evidence from the United Kingdom," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(3), pages 545-565, June.
    3. Robson Morgan & Kelsey J. O’Connor, 2022. "Labor Market Policy and Subjective Well-Being During the Great Recession," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 391-422, February.
    4. Diederik Boertien & Daniele Vignoli, 2019. "Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Matters for the Subjective Well-being of Individuals in Same-Sex Unions," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(6), pages 2109-2121, December.

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