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Take It or Leave It: (Non-) Take-up Behavior of Social Assistance in Germany

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  • Hilke Almut Kayser
  • Joachim R. Frick

Abstract

Analyzing the under-consumption of benefits in the German means-tested Social Assistance program using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study we estimate a high non-take-up rate of more than 60 percent. We find distinct differences across population groups and significant impacts of factors such as stigma, application costs and social ties. Specifically, we show that the rate varies greatly depending on the determination of eligibility. Results pertaining to the amount of unclaimed benefits are qualitatively similar to those for the non-take-up rate. As expected, the proportion of outstanding benefits that is not claimed by eligible households is lower than the non-take-up rate because small entitlement amounts are more likely to remain unclaimed. In light of likely measurement errors in income and in our simulation of household needs, we provide a range of estimates yielding useful boundaries for the non-take-up rate. Basierend auf den Mikro-Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels untersuchen wir Determinanten der Nichtinanspruchnahme von Sozialhilfe in Deutschland. Die Schätzung einer Nichtinanspruchnahmequote ("Dunkelziffer") von über 60 Prozent zeigt deutliche Unterschiede für verschiedene Bevölkerungsgruppen und zudem signifikante Einflü e von Indikatoren zur Messung von Stigma, Kosten der Antragstellung und sozialen Bindungen. Resultate für die Höhe der nicht in Anspruch genommenen Sozialhilfebeträge sind qualitativ ähnlich. Wie erwartet ist die Rate der nicht ausgezahlten Sozialhilfeleistungen jedoch geringer als im Falle der Nichtinanspruchnahmequote, da es eher geringe Sozialhilfebeträge sind, die nicht beantragt werden. Darüber hinaus wird deutlich, wie stark die Berechnung der Inanspruchnahmequote mit der Bestimmung der Inanspruchnahmeberechtigung variiert. Angesichts der hohen Wahrscheinlichkeit von Messfehlern sowohl in den faktisch erhobenen Einkommensdaten als auch bei der Simulation des Bedarfseinkommens, bieten wir eine Reihe von Schätzungswerten und somit nützliche Sensitivitätsanalysen für die Nichtinanspruchnahmequote an.

Suggested Citation

  • Hilke Almut Kayser & Joachim R. Frick, 2000. "Take It or Leave It: (Non-) Take-up Behavior of Social Assistance in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 210, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp210
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Regina T. Riphahn, 2001. "Rational Poverty or Poor Rationality? The Take‐up of Social Assistance Benefits," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 47(3), pages 379-398, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bargain, Olivier & Immervoll, Herwig & Viitamäki, Heikki, 2007. "How Tight Are Safety-Nets in Nordic Countries? Evidence from Finnish Register Data," IZA Discussion Papers 3004, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Fuchs, Michael, 2007. "Social assistance – no, thanks? Empirical analysis of non-take-up in Austria 2003," EUROMOD Working Papers EM4/07, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    3. Kyle Rozema & Nicolas Ziebarth, 2015. "Behavioral Responses to Taxation: Cigarette Taxes and Food Stamp Take-Up," Working Papers 150015, Canadian Centre for Health Economics.
    4. Müller, Kai-Uwe & Steiner, Viktor, 2008. "Would a Legal Minimum Wage Reduce Poverty? A Microsimulation Study for Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 3491, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Olivier Bargain & Herwig Immervoll & Heikki Viitamäki, 2012. "No claim, no pain. Measuring the non-take-up of social assistance using register data," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(3), pages 375-395, September.
    6. Michelle Harnisch, 2019. "Non-Take-Up of Means-Tested Social Benefits in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1793, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Pio Baake & Vanessa von Schlippenbach, 2008. "Upfront Payments and Listing Decisions," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 793, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    8. Laura Chadwick & Jürgen Volkert, 2003. "Making Work Pay: U.S. American models for a German context?," IAW Discussion Papers 08, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    9. Bruckmeier, Kerstin & Wiemers, Jürgen, 2011. "A new targeting - a new take-up? : non-take-up of social assistance in Germany after social policy reforms," IAB-Discussion Paper 201110, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    10. Joachim R. Frick & Olaf Groh-Samberg, 2007. "To Claim or Not to Claim: Estimating Non-take-up of Social Assistance in Germany and the Role of Measurement Error," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 734, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Julie Janssens & Natascha Van Mechelen, 2017. "Who is to Blame? An Overview of the Factors Contributing to the Non-Take-Up of Social Rights," Working Papers 1708, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    12. Zantomio, Francesca, 2008. "The route to take-up: raising incentives or lowering barriers?," ISER Working Paper Series 2008-35, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    13. Kai-Uwe Müller & Viktor Steiner, 2008. "Would a Legal Minimum Wage Reduce Poverty?: A Microsimulation Study for Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 791, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Kerstin Bruckmeier & Jürgen Wiemers, 2010. "A New Targeting - A New Take-Up?: Non-take-up of Social Assistance in Germany after Social Policy Reforms," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 294, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    15. Wilde Joachim & Kubis Alexander, 2005. "Nichtinanspruchnahme von Sozialhilfe. Eine empirische Analyse des Unerwarteten / Non-take-up Behavior of Social Assistance in Germany. An Empirical Investigation of Unexpected Reactions," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 225(3), pages 347-373, June.
    16. Ewoudou, Jacques & Tsimpo, Clarence & Wodon, Quentin, 2009. "Stigma and the take-up of social programs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4962, The World Bank.
    17. Bachmann, Ronald & Beimann, Boris & Bredtmann, Julia & David, Peggy & Ehlert, Christoph & Kassenböhmer, Sonja & Schaffner, Sandra & Siemers, Lars, 2011. "Studies on flexicurity Lot 1: Study on various aspects of labour market performance using micro data from the European Union statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC). Contract No. VC/2010/," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 72620.
    18. Jürgen Wiemers, 2015. "Endogenizing take-up of social assistance in a microsimulation model. A case study for Germany," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 8(2), pages 4-27.
    19. Gasior, Katrin & Hollan, Katarina & Fuchs, Michael & Premrov, Tamara & Scoppetta, Anette, 2019. "Falling through the social safety net? Analysing non-take-up of minimum income benefit and monetary social assistance in Austria," EUROMOD Working Papers EM9/19, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    20. Wilde Joachim, 2003. "Was reizt Sozial hi Ifeempfänger zum Ausstieg?. Eine empirische Untersuchung mit dem Niedrigeinkommens-Panel / Why do Recipients of German Social Assistance Opt Out?. An Empirical Investigation of Inc," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 223(6), pages 719-742, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social Assistance; Welfare Participation; Social Policy; Means-Tested Benefits;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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