Spending on active labour market programmes is still low in most countries

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
Active Labour Market Programmes

scholarly journals Can Active Labour Market Programmes Emulate the Mental Health Benefits of Regular Paid Employment? Longitudinal Evidence from the United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
pp. 095001702094666
Author(s):  
Senhu Wang ◽  
Adam Coutts ◽  
Brendan Burchell ◽  
Daiga Kamerāde ◽  
Ursula Balderson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
Mental Health Benefits ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Active Labour Market Programmes

Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMPs), which form important components of employment support policies around the world, have been found to improve mental health and wellbeing of participants. However, it remains unclear how these health effects compare with the effects of different types of employment for men and women. Using 1991–2019 panel data in the UK, we find that unemployed women derive similar mental health benefits from ALMPs compared with employment. Unemployed men also benefit from ALMPs but obtain significantly more health benefits from formal employment. Such benefits are particularly pronounced in full-time, permanent and upper/middle-status jobs. Further analyses reveal that programmes that deliver human capital training have larger mental health benefits than employment assistance ALMPs. These findings provide a more nuanced understanding of the mental health impacts of ALMPs compared with different types of employment, and highlight the need for a more gender-sensitive design in labour market interventions.

Graduates and Active Labour Market Programmes: Evidence of Deactivation

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
Individual Probability ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Active Labour Market Programmes ◽  
Job Prospects

This paper explores the experiences of graduates who participated in a range of Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMPs) in Ireland. The paper uses narrative structuring to provide an enhanced understanding of the graduates' experiences. A review of the literature indicates that most empirical studies of the effects of ALMPs are quantitative. Typically, the studies evaluate whether participation in a programme increases the individual probability of leaving unemployment. This paper argues that other, softer outcomes must also be studied if the impact of ALMPs is to be properly understood. The author therefore adopts a qualitative approach to examine the impact of ALMPs on graduates. The data collected during in-depth interviews indicate a mixed picture. While graduates found their experiences during the ALMPs positive in the main, the impact on their outlook and job prospects is not encouraging. Too often, the graduates express a view that the ALMPs are a ‘short-term fix’, offering little prospect of secure employment. The paper identifies the potential problem of deactivation in addition to the problems of deadweight loss, substitution and displacement reported by Fraser (1999).

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