Do Europe’s Minimum Income Schemes ProvideAdequate Shelter against the Economic Crisis andHow, If at All, Have Governments Responded?

The present economic crisis comes against the background of decades of policy changesthat have generally weakened the capacity of social safety nets to offer citizens withadequate resources for financial survival when labour markets fail to do so. Building on datafor 24 European Union countries, this paper asks whether EU governments implementedadditional measures during the first phase of the crisis to improve safety nets. Our data,drawn from a large network of national experts, show that many countries introducedsupportive measures, in particular in the form of additional increases in gross minimumincome benefits. More generous child benefits have also helped to increase net disposableincomes of families on minimum income. Behavioral requirements imposed on minimumincome recipients have been neither tightened nor relaxed. In a limited number of countries,activation efforts aimed at minimum income recipients have been intensified. Despite someimprovements, social safety nets in Europe remain far below widely accepted povertythresholds, including the EU’s own official measure...