One size fits all? Implementation and effects of a job guarantee for long-term-unemployed persons

Bibliographic Data

ID2116571
AuthorsJörg Flecker (0000-0001-6363-4527, University of Vienna), Hannah Quinz (0000-0003-2374-4718, University of Vienna, corresponding author)
Year2025
Pages1-17
Publication date2025-07-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Social Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047279425100949
OpenAlexW4412777998
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited23

Researchers and policymakers propose a job guarantee as a means of overcoming long-term unemployment and the associated risk of social exclusion. Such a programme implies that all long-term-unemployed individuals within a certain territory are offered subsidised employment in not-for-profit enterprises or the public sector. This results in heterogeneous participation because the group of long-term-unemployed people is more diverse than often assumed. Against the background of the literature on subsidised employment, this contribution presents findings from an evaluation study of a job guarantee that was implemented in a small town in Lower Austria between 2020 and 2024. The aim of this paper is to explore the changes brought about by re-employment within a job creation scheme and in particular how the scheme coped with the diversity among the participants, which is a consequence of offering employment to all long-term-unemployed individuals. Based on data from a longitudinal mixed-methods study, the contribution shows how the project was implemented, to what extent the participants benefited from it and how the form of implementation met the different needs of participants. A typology based on qualitative data captures the diversity among the participants and shows how the scheme fits different groups. Finally, we discuss the pros and cons of the inclusion of diverse participants within one project

Demographic economics · Economics · Labour economics · Physics · Term (time) · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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