Die vorliegende Studie fragt nach Herkunft, Bedeutung und Auswirkung der Bezeichnung "Totalverweigerer", die ursprünglich von Bundesarbeitsminister Hubertus Heil für Grundsicherungsbeziehende, die mehrfach die Aufnahme einer Erwerbsarbeit verweigern, verwendet wurde. Ende März 2024 wurde dann...

This policy note examines the role of social safety nets in addressing persistent poverty and inequality in Cameroon. Building on over a decade of implementation, Cameroon's main safety nets initiative-the Projet Filets Sociaux (PFS)-has laid important foundations but remains limited in scale...

We study how public school teachers use paid sick leave. Most US sick leave schemes operate as individualized credit accounts: Paid leave is earned, and unused leave accumulates. We construct a unique dataset of daily leave balances and behavior among 982 teachers for 2010–2018. Sick leave use...

This paper assesses the impact of the Agrarian Unemployment Benefit (AUB), a regionally targeted income support scheme introduced in Andalucía, Spain, in 1984. At its peak, the program covered more than 10% of the regional labour force, making it one of the most extensive welfare measures of...

We develop a framework to assess when social programmes should prioritize expanding coverage versus improving targeting accuracy. Rather than treating universalism and targeting as a binary choice, we derive a practical rule-of-thumb based on observed eligibility rates and programme quotas to...

Innovations in big data and algorithms are enabling new approaches to target interventions at scale. We compare the accuracy of three different systems for identifying the poor to receive benefit transfers - proxy means-testing, nominations from community members, and an algorithmic approach...

Means-tested welfare benefits are usually provided at the household level. Job search effort of unemployed welfare benefit recipients is monitored, and non-compliance with job search requirements can lead to a sanction and therewith to a temporary drop in household income. Among unemployed...

We evaluate the short- and long-run effects of a large conditional cash transfer program that paid students to remain in full-time education beyond the compulsory school-leaving age. The Education Maintenance Allowance paid teenagers from low-income families in the United Kingdom up to £30 per...

As increasingly frequent extreme weather events disrupt lives, institutions are turning to early-warning systems and advance preparation to accelerate aid delivery. A randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh and Nepal tested whether providing cash within days of a flood leads to greater...

The government-implemented Supporting Women’s Livelihoods (SWL) intervention yielded large and lasting improvements in welfare outcomes for extremely poor women in Zambia. The SWL intervention aims to enhance women’s livelihoods and economic resilience by providing poor rural women with a...

Cash transfers are a cornerstone of social protection. This paper evaluates an integrated program in Burkina Faso that combines cash transfers with parenting interventions delivered through group meetings or home visits. In a randomized experiment across 225 villages, households received cash...

This paper studies the effects of a supported work program that provides TANF recipients with a suite of services including a six-month subsidized internship with a local employer. We use rich administrative data and implement a stacked difference-in-differences design comparing program...

The 1996 U.S. welfare reform introduced time limits on welfare receipt. We use quasiexperimental evidence and a rich life cycle model to understand the impact of time limits on different margins of behavior and well-being. We stress the impact of marital status and marital transitions on...

This study examines how SNAP participation may affect age-related cognitive decline among cognitively intact older adults over 10 years. Leveraging a longitudinal survey of SNAP-eligible participants in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) collected biennially from 2010 to 2020, we estimate the...

The Spanish Minimum Income scheme, introduced in 2020, offers beneficiaries a unique national guaranteed income as a last-resort benefit. However, the scheme's design featured a lack of work incentives for low earners, potentially leading to inactivity traps. To address this flaw the Spanish...

This study aims to explore whether there is evidence supporting that the State Welfare Card causes the reduction of the poverty rate in Thailand. With data limitations, we rely on the 2019 household socio-economic survey to compare the consumption expenditure of those who received the card...

Vor dem Hintergrund aktueller Reformüberlegungen zur Zumutbarkeit von Arbeit nach § 10 SGB II untersucht dieser Forschungsbericht, welche Entfernungen zwischen Wohnort und Arbeitsort bei Beschäftigungsaufnahmen von Personen im Grundsicherungsbezug typischerweise auftreten. Im Fokus stehen...

This study examines how SNAP participation may affect age-related cognitive decline among cognitively intact older adults over 10 years. Leveraging a longitudinal survey of SNAP-eligible participants in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) collected biennially from 2010 to 2020, we estimate the...

We evaluate the effects of a randomized activation program targeting recipients of the Spain's national Minimum Income Scheme. The intervention combined personalized coaching, job-search assistance, soft-skills training, and, in one treatment arm, also digital-skills workshops. While short-run...

We re-assess the consequences of a NIT for two-parent families, utilizing hitherto untapped data. The Gary and Seattle experiments fail balancing tests. In New Jersey, Denver and Manitoba we estimate far greater labor supply responses than the current consensus, with remarkable consistency in...

Erwerbsfähige Personen, die arbeitslos sind oder über wenig Einkommen verfügen, können in Deutschland Leistungen der Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende nach SGB II beziehen, um ihren Lebensunterhalt zu sichern. Dies gilt grundsätzlich auch für ältere Leistungsbeziehende bis zur...

This paper examines how social policy shapes mobility responses to extreme weather events. We study Brazil's conditional cash transfer programme, Bolsa Família, and its impact on the relocation decisions of vulnerable households exposed to extreme rainfall. We assemble a novel dataset linking...

This study examines the impact of Ecuador's "Bono 1,000 días" (1,000 Days Bond), an unconditional cash transfer programme that includes a conditional component, aimed at reducing childhood stunting. Implemented in 2022, this programme targets pregnant women and children up to two years old...