Income support for working low income families (the "working poor") is on top of the political agenda in Switzerland. The current social assistance system is considered inadequate to support working poor households. Labour unions propose the introduction of a general minimum wage, whereas the Swiss government promotes in-work benefits. Based on a structural labour supply model this paper provides microsimulation results of the effects of introducing different schemes of in-work benefits. It turns out that adding a minimum hours requirement to the current social assistance system is the most cost-efficient reform. Minimum wages are ineffective in fighting poverty.
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Paper provided by Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft in its series Diskussionsschriften with number
dp0304.
Find related papers by JEL classification: I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models
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References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Richard Blundell & Hilary W. Hoynes, 2004.
"Has 'In-Work' Benefit Reform Helped the Labor Market?,"
NBER Chapters,
in: Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms, 1980-2000, pages 411-460
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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