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Abstract
Current debates about activation policies focus only to a very limited degree on continental or conservative welfare states, as countries like Austria and Germany are usually assumed to exhibit a low degree of activation. However, active labour market policies have a long tradition in both countries. This paper analyses the development of active labour market policy in Germany and Austria during the last two decades with special emphasis on recent reform attempts. Against this background, the potential outcome of the central reforms is discussed. In spite of claims to ‘modernise’ the welfare system and labour market policies, current developments work mainly in the direction of curtailing benefits and rights of the unemployed.
Notes
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the members of the COST A 13 group who on several occasions have helped them to develop their arguments, and above all to Jean-Claude Barbier for his detailed comments and ongoing support. We are also grateful to two anonymous reviewers for pointing out shortcomings of an earlier version. None of these persons of course is responsible for the remaining weaknesses or errors.
Wolfgang Ludwig-Mayerhofer is Professor of Sociology – Empirical Research Methods at the University of Siegen, Germany. His main areas of research are inequality, poverty and unemployment, sociology of the family and sociology of (criminal) law. Among his recent books are Die Armut der Gesellschaft (edited with Eva Barlösius, 2001), Soziale Ungleichheit, Kriminalität und Kriminalisierung (ed., 2000) and Soziologie des Sozialstaats (edited with Jutta Allmendinger, 2000).
Angela Wroblewski is researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies and lecturer at the University for Economics and Business Administration in Vienna, Austria. Her main areas of research are evaluation of labour market policy, female labour market participation and studies in the field of higher education.
Angela Wroblewski, Insitute for Advanced Studies, Department of Socialogy, Stumpergasse 56 A-1060, Vienna. E-mail: [email protected]
As earlier data are problematic in terms of comparability, the time frame in is restricted.
As we have to rely on national sources here which seem not strictly comparable, these figures should be taken with a grain of salt.
More thorough reforms are being discussed by both the government and the current opposition parties, but they will not be put into effect within the next 2 years, if at all.
We might add that in both countries the increase in women's employment during the past decades was largely based on part time jobs, with one-third (Austria) or 40 per cent (Germany) of women working part time in 2001.
The view expressed by Bonoli and Sarfati (Citation2002: 478–79) that due to the insurance principle the ‘requirement to work’ is ‘weakest in some continental European countries, perhaps most notably in Germany’, is definitely wrong. Refusal of an unemployed person to take up a ‘suitable job’ results in a withdrawal of 3 months’ benefits when occurring the first time, and complete withdrawal of benefits the second time. Likewise, general social assistance (Sozialhilfe) may be reduced considerably or withdrawn completely in case of refusal to take up a job or to participate in ‘workfare’ measures (Hilfe zur Arbeit; see Voges et al. Citation2000). The degree to which these sanctions are applied naturally is hard to assess; it can be assumed that they are handled with considerable discretion.
With the unemployment rate held constant, Austria – with ‘active’ expenditures reaching 0.15 per percent unemployment in 2001 – is above average among the OECD member states (rank 9) and only slightly behind Germany (0.16 per cent, rank 7).
Complex measures for long-term unemployed people or people with specific problems on the labour market, consisting of a special combination of orientation, qualification which basically involves practical training, and job search assistance.
The former, while not having to be ‘profitable’, have to earn at least some money on the market, whereas the latter are entirely financed by public funds. Such measures combine subsidised employment with psychosocial care.
Cf. WIFO, IHS Citation2000; Leitner et al. Citation2003.
Other important changes: e.g. the development of a quality assurance model and an internal reorganisation project.
Cf. Leitner and Wroblewski (Citation2000).
The ‘job coaching’ initiative (started in 2000) aims to prevent short-term unemployed people from drifting into long-term unemployment. Assistance is given at quite an early stage (during the first month of unemployment) in order to re-integrate jobless people into the labour market as quickly as possible. Characteristically, this measure exhibits a rather low intensity of coaching and advice within a 12-month period, although the intensity increases as time progresses. In 2000, about 18,000 people attended a job coaching program, which amounts to about one-fifth of all the supported participants in training courses.
The non-party petition for a referendum at the beginning of April 2002 was initiated by 13 individual people (e.g., scientists, journalists, etc.). This petition demanded that the welfare state should become part of the national constitution. Der Standard, 10 November 2001.
Surprisingly, the intensified debate on sanctions and stiffer reasonability requirements has had no influence on the actual number of sanctions (i.e. halting of benefit payments for a certain periods), which has remained constant during the last few years. During the last years about 10,000 sanctions have been imposed because of refused job offers, 20,000 sanctions have been caused by missing pre-arranged appointments with the PES. In total about 4 per cent of the applications are subject to sanctions.
Since 2001 parents have the possibility to stay at home till the child is 3 years old (if the father takes at least 6 months leave) with a flat rate benefit of €14.53 per day.
This was so far only carried out, albeit on rather small scale, within the context of the Territorial Employment Pacts.
Cf. BMAGS Citation1997: 239f.
Later, these rules were made more women-friendly as periods of childraising were taken into account.
Not least, this is due to the influence of employers’ organizations on the BA; it was maintained that job-creation schemes were substituting jobs in the regular labour market.
Another facet is the restructuring of BA governance from a bureaucratic management to management by objectives. We cannot go into more detail due to limitations of space.
As one limitation of choice, vouchers may be restricted to a certain type or range of measures by the PES.
There is one counterexample to this trend: Private job placement agencies, permitted on a large scale since 1994, but until March 2002 on condition of approval from the BA, now only have to register with the municipal authorities (Gewerbeamt).
This is especially ironic in the light of the constant lectures from authorities that citizens need to engage much more in private saving to back up the meagre old-age pensions they are likely to receive. Current debate about details of the Arbeitslosengeld II means test focusses on this issue.
To add only one telling (and topical) example: At the end of June 2004, Angela Merkel, head of the conservative CDU, proposed a state-sponsored low wage sector to counterbalance the one-sidedness of the current government-initiated reforms that (in her view) are limited to curtailing benefits and do not offer any help to the unemployed.