Natascha Van Mechelen
Biographic Data
| ID | 4221543 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Natascha Van Mechelen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Natascha |
| FAMILY NAME | Van Mechelen |
| SIGNATURE | VAN MECHELEN N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Antwerp |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 60 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
To take or not to take? An overview of the factors contributing to the non-take-up of public provisions
This article aims to provide an overview of the main mechanisms underlying the non-take-up of public provisions by bringing together insights from existing theoretical models and the large body of empirical evidence within Europe and the U.S. We draw on studies based on the rational choice model as well as on insights from psychology and behavioural economics. Whereas most studies are confined to the client level only to explain non-take-up, an i…
A New Kid in Town? Active Inclusion Elements in European Minimum Income Schemes
This article assesses the current variation in activation strategies directed towards able‐bodied persons of working age relying on a minimum income guarantee in 19 EU member states. First, we argue that the active inclusion notion developed by the European Commission in its Recommendation on the active inclusion of persons excluded from the labour market provides a useful tool to categorize current activation strategies towards minimum income pr…
Minimum income protection in the austerity tide
Scholarly literature is inconclusive on how economic crises impact on minimum income protection. Earlier studies found small increases in the generosity of safety nets at the onset of the crisis. Yet an increased focus on budget austerity substantially altered the social policy context. This paper assesses how minimum income floors weathered the austerity tide following the crisis using purpose-collected data for 23 EU countries. Generally, socia…
Universalism under siege? Exploring the association between targeting, child benefits and child poverty across 26 countries
Social Redistribution, Poverty, and the Adequacy of Social Protection
Social protection systems traditionally serve a dual purpose: to maintain acquired living standards in the event of social risks and to combat poverty by guaranteeing adequate minimum incomes. More recently, these goals – which are basically instances of damage compensation – have been complemented with a third objective, namely to foster ‘active inclusion’ as a means of preventing or rectifying damage. Starting from the hypothesis that the tensi…
The Great Wake-Up Call? Social Citizenship and Minimum Income Provisions in Europe in Times of Crisis
When the 2008 crisis hit, social safety nets in Europe were not in the best of shape. This article examines what, if anything, governments did to adjust minimum income protection after two decades of relative neglect. In view of the hardship brought on by the crisis, this question is of importance in itself. In addition, there is a long-standing interest in the role crises play in re-shaping policies, possibly in a radical way. Building on purpos…
Cracks in a policy paradigm – poverty reduction and social security
Poverty reduction rests on the mechanisms of horizontal and vertical solidarity and on prevention and repair of social risks. In this contribution, we argue that in contemporary welfare states the poverty-reducing capacity of existing social security systems has inherent limitations. Focusing on Belgium, we present and discuss empirical indications of a persistent (over a period of at least 30 years) decline in poverty reduction through social tr…
Struggle for Life
The adequacy of minimum income protection is high on the policy agenda in Europe today. The EU2020 Strategy, as agreed by the Council in June 2010, has made the reduction of poverty and social exclusion one of its top priorities. By 2020, the number of people living in poverty should be reduced by 20 million. Poverty is measured here as an aggregate based on three indicators: the financial poverty risk (i.e. the share of households with a net inc…
Child Poverty as a Government Priority
In this chapter the focus is on the child benefit package for working families and its contribution to tackling in-work child poverty. Tackling child poverty is high on the European Union’s political agenda. It was a priority in the March 2006 European Council, a focus of many of the National Reports on Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2006–8, and the main work of the EU experts on the National Action Plans in 2007. An influential report by…
The EU and Minimum Income Protection
Should the EU be involved in the governance of minimum income protection, and if it should, in which role precisely? This question raises a complex policy conundrum. We focus on a proposal by the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) for an EU Framework Directive on Minimum Income Protection, in order to examine three aspects of that policy conundrum: (1) the instrumental relevance of minimum income protection; (2) the unequal burden of the redist…
Do Europe's Minimum Income Schemes Provide Adequate Shelter Against the Economic Crisis and How, If at All, Have Governments Responded?
Towards Minimum Income Protection in Europe
A commonly heard proposal in academic and policy circles alike is for the introduction of an obligation for all Member States to guarantee a dignified minimum income to their citizens. The accelerated integration that has taken place over the past two decades, the consistent and repeated presence of the necessity of adequate minimum income protection in European political discourse, and the EU2020 poverty targets strongly suggest that, if a decis…
To take or not to take? An overview of the factors contributing to the non-take-up of public provisions
This article aims to provide an overview of the main mechanisms underlying the non-take-up of public provisions by bringing together insights from existing theoretical models and the large body of empirical evidence within Europe and the U.S. We draw on studies based on the rational choice model as well as on insights from psychology and behavioural economics. Whereas most studies are confined to the client level only to explain non-take-up, an i…
Universalism under siege? Exploring the association between targeting, child benefits and child poverty across 26 countries
A New Kid in Town? Active Inclusion Elements in European Minimum Income Schemes
This article assesses the current variation in activation strategies directed towards able‐bodied persons of working age relying on a minimum income guarantee in 19 EU member states. First, we argue that the active inclusion notion developed by the European Commission in its Recommendation on the active inclusion of persons excluded from the labour market provides a useful tool to categorize current activation strategies towards minimum income pr…
The Great Wake-Up Call? Social Citizenship and Minimum Income Provisions in Europe in Times of Crisis
When the 2008 crisis hit, social safety nets in Europe were not in the best of shape. This article examines what, if anything, governments did to adjust minimum income protection after two decades of relative neglect. In view of the hardship brought on by the crisis, this question is of importance in itself. In addition, there is a long-standing interest in the role crises play in re-shaping policies, possibly in a radical way. Building on purpos…
Cracks in a policy paradigm – poverty reduction and social security
Poverty reduction rests on the mechanisms of horizontal and vertical solidarity and on prevention and repair of social risks. In this contribution, we argue that in contemporary welfare states the poverty-reducing capacity of existing social security systems has inherent limitations. Focusing on Belgium, we present and discuss empirical indications of a persistent (over a period of at least 30 years) decline in poverty reduction through social tr…
Towards Minimum Income Protection in Europe
A commonly heard proposal in academic and policy circles alike is for the introduction of an obligation for all Member States to guarantee a dignified minimum income to their citizens. The accelerated integration that has taken place over the past two decades, the consistent and repeated presence of the necessity of adequate minimum income protection in European political discourse, and the EU2020 poverty targets strongly suggest that, if a decis…
Do Europe's Minimum Income Schemes Provide Adequate Shelter Against the Economic Crisis and How, If at All, Have Governments Responded?
Struggle for Life
The adequacy of minimum income protection is high on the policy agenda in Europe today. The EU2020 Strategy, as agreed by the Council in June 2010, has made the reduction of poverty and social exclusion one of its top priorities. By 2020, the number of people living in poverty should be reduced by 20 million. Poverty is measured here as an aggregate based on three indicators: the financial poverty risk (i.e. the share of households with a net inc…
Child Poverty as a Government Priority
In this chapter the focus is on the child benefit package for working families and its contribution to tackling in-work child poverty. Tackling child poverty is high on the European Union’s political agenda. It was a priority in the March 2006 European Council, a focus of many of the National Reports on Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2006–8, and the main work of the EU experts on the National Action Plans in 2007. An influential report by…
The EU and Minimum Income Protection
Should the EU be involved in the governance of minimum income protection, and if it should, in which role precisely? This question raises a complex policy conundrum. We focus on a proposal by the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) for an EU Framework Directive on Minimum Income Protection, in order to examine three aspects of that policy conundrum: (1) the instrumental relevance of minimum income protection; (2) the unequal burden of the redist…
Social Redistribution, Poverty, and the Adequacy of Social Protection
Social protection systems traditionally serve a dual purpose: to maintain acquired living standards in the event of social risks and to combat poverty by guaranteeing adequate minimum incomes. More recently, these goals – which are basically instances of damage compensation – have been complemented with a third objective, namely to foster ‘active inclusion’ as a means of preventing or rectifying damage. Starting from the hypothesis that the tensi…
The Great Wake-Up Call? Social Citizenship and Minimum Income Provisions in Europe in Times of Crisis
When the 2008 crisis hit, social safety nets in Europe were not in the best of shape. This article examines what, if anything, governments did to adjust minimum income protection after two decades of relative neglect. In view of the hardship brought on by the crisis, this question is of importance in itself. In addition, there is a long-standing interest in the role crises play in re-shaping policies, possibly in a radical way. Building on purpos…
Cracks in a policy paradigm – poverty reduction and social security
Poverty reduction rests on the mechanisms of horizontal and vertical solidarity and on prevention and repair of social risks. In this contribution, we argue that in contemporary welfare states the poverty-reducing capacity of existing social security systems has inherent limitations. Focusing on Belgium, we present and discuss empirical indications of a persistent (over a period of at least 30 years) decline in poverty reduction through social tr…
Universalism under siege? Exploring the association between targeting, child benefits and child poverty across 26 countries
Minimum income protection in the austerity tide
Scholarly literature is inconclusive on how economic crises impact on minimum income protection. Earlier studies found small increases in the generosity of safety nets at the onset of the crisis. Yet an increased focus on budget austerity substantially altered the social policy context. This paper assesses how minimum income floors weathered the austerity tide following the crisis using purpose-collected data for 23 EU countries. Generally, socia…
A New Kid in Town? Active Inclusion Elements in European Minimum Income Schemes
This article assesses the current variation in activation strategies directed towards able‐bodied persons of working age relying on a minimum income guarantee in 19 EU member states. First, we argue that the active inclusion notion developed by the European Commission in its Recommendation on the active inclusion of persons excluded from the labour market provides a useful tool to categorize current activation strategies towards minimum income pr…
To take or not to take? An overview of the factors contributing to the non-take-up of public provisions
This article aims to provide an overview of the main mechanisms underlying the non-take-up of public provisions by bringing together insights from existing theoretical models and the large body of empirical evidence within Europe and the U.S. We draw on studies based on the rational choice model as well as on insights from psychology and behavioural economics. Whereas most studies are confined to the client level only to explain non-take-up, an i…
Economics (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (11 works) · Development economics (8 works) · Economic growth (7 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Poverty (6 works) · Public economics (6 works) · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism (5 works)