Activation, Work and Well‐Being
Theory, Evidence and Policy Implications
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6452058 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adam Whitworth (0000-0001-6119-9373, Strathclyde Business School University of Strathclyde Glasgow Scotland UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 1204-1213 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-19 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Policy and Administration (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0144-5596 • E-ISSN: 1467-9515 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/spol.13120 |
| OpenAlex | W4406593650 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 42 |
Despite the centrality of activation, paid work and well‐being to advanced welfare systems their inter‐relationships remain fragmented and underdeveloped in scholarship and policy. The present article makes original contributions to theory, evidence and policy in this context. Theoretically the article presents the two alternative accounts of these relationships and argues for their integration into a single framework. Empirically, path analyses within multivariate structural equation models examine this novel integrated theorisation quantitatively for the first time in the literature using the policy case study of a UK‐based voluntary Individual Placement and Support (IPS) activation programme for people with substance misuse issues. The findings support our integrated theoretical framework and highlight the direct importance of activation programmes to client well‐being through programme participation alongside their indirect well‐being importance through the well‐being effects of resulting paid work transitions. The well‐being implications for policy and practice are significant and further research is needed to further develop our understanding of how different activation approaches affect well‐being both directly and through its shaping of differing employment types and trajectories
Physics · Psychotherapist · Thermodynamics · Well-being · Work (physics · Employment and Welfare Studies · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Workplace Health and Well-being
Understanding street-level bureaucracy
Best (but oft-forgotten) practices
Methods for integrating moderation and mediation
The Moral Economy of Activation
From the Manpower Revolution to the Activation Paradigm
The Impacts of Benefit Sanctions
Activation policies
The New Welfare State Settlement in Europe
Activating the Unemployed — Directions and Divisions in Europe
Beyond the ‘train-first’/‘work-first’ dichotomy
Workfare With Welfare
Life satisfaction effects of unemployment in Europe
A hand up or a slap down? Criminalising benefit claimants in Britain via strategies of surveillance, sanctions and deterrence
Employment and unemployment
Punitive welfare reform and claimant mental health
Programme form and service user well‐being
Work Activation Regimes and Well‐being of Unemployed People
Carrots or sticks? A multilevel analysis of active labour market policies and non‐standard employment in Europe
A typology of activation incentives
Work, welfare, and wellbeing
Searching for best practice in welfare-to-work
Policy Work
The paternalist politics of punitive and enabling workfare
Derivation of a UK preference-based value set for the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS) to allow estimation of Mental Well-being Adjusted Life Years (MWALYs)
The Impact of Welfare Conditionality on Experiences of Job Quality
Can Active Labour Market Programmes Emulate the Mental Health Benefits of Regular Paid Employment? Longitudinal Evidence from the United Kingdom
The Political Economy of Active Labor-Market Policy
Creaming and Parking in Quasi-Marketised Welfare-to-Work Schemes
State Intervention and Mental Well-being Among the Unemployed
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |