Social assistance and labor market behavior. A longitudinal analysis of work exits from poverty in Germany

Journal/Book: Z Soz. 1998; 27: Postfach 30 03 66, D-70443 Stuttgart, Germany. Ferdinand Enke Verlag. 212.

Abstract: Recent dynamic analyses of social welfare payments have shown that there are relevant flows out of poverty: indeed, quite a few recipients do leave social welfare by taking up paid work. Following the results of dynamic poverty analyses this study aims at clarifying the characteristics and determinants of work exits from poverty. It is shown that the chances of entering the paid work force in Germany, consistent with findings in the United States, depend heavily on the resources and labor market potential of welfare recipients. There is less evidence for the impact of transfer disincentives, welfare dependency, or the dynamics of the business cycle on labor market matching processes. It is obvious, however, that only one of a variety of social processes underlying the dynamics of poverty is described in the research. Analyses of poverty thus have to specify carefully the object under study in order to capture the heterogeneity of the experience of poverty both empirically and theoretically.

Note: Article Gangl M, Univ Mannheim, Mannheimer Zentrum Europa Sozialforsch, D-68131 Mannheim, GERMANY

Keyword(s): MODEL

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