IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/socinc/v6y2018i3p289-300.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Between Idealism and Pragmatism: Social Policies and Matthew Effect in Vocational Education and Training for Disadvantaged Youth in Switzerland

Author

Listed:
  • Delia Pisoni

    (Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP), University of Lausanne, Switzerland)

Abstract

Since the mid-1970s, research shows that less-disadvantaged individuals more frequently access social policy schemes when compared to their more-disadvantaged counterparts, a phenomenon called the Matthew effect. Through two indepth case studies, based on 60 semi-directive interviews, and document analysis, this study aims to more fully understand the mechanisms leading to a Matthew effect in Swiss Vocational Education and Training (VET) programmes for disadvantaged youth. Indeed, education is key to post-industrial labour markets access, and VET appears to facilitate schoolto-work transitions. A Matthew effect in this policy field might thus lead to particularly detrimental repercussions, and public authorities should be especially eager to contain it. Nevertheless, findings show that, under certain conditions, decision-makers push frontline-workers into cream-skimming practices, causing a Matthew effect. Additionally, structural challenges also lead to a Matthew effect, highlighting the general difficulty of the very mandate: (re-)inserting highly disadvantaged individuals into selective markets. Indeed, in contexts of tight public budgets, service oriented modern Welfare States tread a fine line between empowering and prioritising beneficiaries. Dealing with complex target groups, it seems crucial whether the rationale driving public authorities is more oriented towards credit-claiming or problem-solving: the former increasing and the latter decreasing the incidence of Matthew effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Delia Pisoni, 2018. "Between Idealism and Pragmatism: Social Policies and Matthew Effect in Vocational Education and Training for Disadvantaged Youth in Switzerland," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(3), pages 289-300.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v6:y:2018:i:3:p:289-300
    DOI: 10.17645/si.v6i3.1515
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/1515
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/si.v6i3.1515?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bonoli, Giuliano, 2013. "The Origins of Active Social Policy: Labour Market and Childcare Policies in a Comparative Perspective," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199669769, Decembrie.
    2. Bea Cantillon, 2011. "The Paradox of the Social Investment State. Growth, Employment and Poverty in the Lisbon Era," Working Papers 1103, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara Baiocco & Cinzia Alcidi & Francesco Corti & Mattia Di Salvo, 2022. "Changing Social Investment Strategies in the EU," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2022-01, Joint Research Centre.
    2. Delia Pisoni, 2018. "Between Idealism and Pragmatism: Social Policies and Matthew Effect in Vocational Education and Training for Disadvantaged Youth in Switzerland," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(3), pages 289-300.
    3. Rense Nieuwenhuis & Wim van Lancker & Diego Collado & Bea Cantillon, 2016. "Has the Potential for Compensating Poverty by Women's Employment Growth Been Depleted?," LIS Working papers 664, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    4. Bakker, Vincent & Van Vliet, Olaf, 2019. "Social Investment, Employment Outcomes and Policy and Institutional Complementarities: A Comparative Analysis across 26 OECD countries," MPRA Paper 96140, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Bea Cantillon & Wim Van Lancker, 2011. "Solidarity and reciprocity in the social investment state: what can be learned from the case of Flemish school allowances and truancy?," Working Papers 1109, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    6. Bea Cantillon & Natascha Van Mechelen, 2013. "Poverty reduction and social security: Cracks in a policy paradigm," Working Papers 1304, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    7. Azzollini, Leo & Breen, Richard & Nolan, Brian, 2023. "Changing Household Structures, Household Employment, and Poverty Trends in Rich Countries," SocArXiv rp37g_v1, Center for Open Science.
    8. Ana Filipa Pinto & Hermínia Gonçalves, 2023. "European Tendencies of Territorialization of Income Conditional Policies to Insertion: Systematic and Narrative Review," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Tair Kasztan Flechner & Karel Neels & Jonas Wood & Naomi Biegel, 2022. "Exploring Women’s Uptake of Active Labour Market Programmes: The Role of Household Composition Across Migrant Origin Groups," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 117-131.
    10. Sümeyra Akarçeşme & Ane Aranguiz; & Anna Lemmens; & Bea Cantillon;, 2023. "Reaching the European 2030 poverty target: The imperative for balancing the EU Social Agenda," Working Papers 2311, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    11. repec:aia:ginidp:dp53 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Elena Bárcena-Martín & M. Carmen Blanco-Arana & Salvador Pérez-Moreno, 2016. "Assessing the impact of social transfer income packages on child poverty in European countries: Pro-child targeting vs pro-poor targeting," Working Papers 410, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    13. Masuch, Klaus & Anderton, Robert & Setzer, Ralph & Benalal, Nicholai, 2018. "Structural policies in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 210, European Central Bank.
    14. Wim Van Lancker & Joris Ghysels, 2011. "Who reaps the benefits? The social distribution of public childcare in Sweden and Flanders," Working Papers 1106, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    15. Seibel, Verena & Hedegaard, Troels Fage, 2017. "Migrants' and natives' attitudes to formal childcare in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 112-121.
    16. Verónica Amarante & Maira Colacce & Victoria Tenenbaum, 2019. "The National Care System in Uruguay: Who Benefits and Who Pays?," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 45(S1), pages 97-122, December.
    17. Marion Ellison & Vittorio Sergi & Nicola Giannelli, 2017. "An In-Depth Analysis of the Relationship Between Policy Making Processes, Forms of Governance and the Impact of selected Labour Market Innovations in twelve European Labour Market Settings," Working Papers 1701, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2017.
    18. Ive Marx & Pieter Vandenbroucke & Verbist, G. (Gerlinde), 2011. "GINI DP 15: Can higher employment levels bring down poverty in the EU?," GINI Discussion Papers 15, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    19. Mary Daly, 2012. "Paradigms in EU social policy: a critical account of Europe 2020," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 18(3), pages 273-284, August.
    20. Yun, Heesuk, 2016. "Changes in the Relative Importance of the Minimum Wage, Income Support and Employment Support Programs," KDI Focus 71, Korea Development Institute (KDI).
    21. Rense Nieuwenhuis & Wim Lancker & Diego Collado & Bea Cantillon, 2020. "Trends in Women’s Employment and Poverty Rates in OECD Countries: A Kitagawa–Blinder–Oaxaca Decomposition," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 6(1), pages 37-61, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v6:y:2018:i:3:p:289-300. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.