Marina Petrovic

Brussels, Dec.15th 2010

Subjective Well-Being of Social Assistance Recipients in Serbia:The Experience of Public Work Participants

CONTENT

• Conceptual framework for understanding the main dimensions of subjective well-being (SWB) for the unemployed poor

• Context: work activation of able-bodied welfare recipients through public works

• Method: qualitative analysis of the data obtained from semi-structured in-depth interviews

• Findings: discussion of changes in different dimensions of SWB

• Possible policy implications*

BEFORE CONTINUING THE STORY…

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE refers to the GMI scheme, the so called ‘MATERIJALNO OBEZBEDJENJE’, providing targeted means-tested benefits to the poorest among the poor (people with insufficient financial resources i.e. the income/assets below a certain threshold).

CONCEPTUALIZING SWB• Numerous lists of well-being, values, and human needs - see

Alkire, 2002 for summary

• Two relevant pioneering studies of SWB defining:

- the ‘domains’ of subjective well-being (Cummins, 1996)- the personal assessments of poor people (Narayan et al., 2000)

• Bonin and Rinne’s (2006) set of dimensions for assessing subjective well-being outcomes among the disadvantaged involved in a public work-type program.

CONTEXT: PUBLIC WORKS

• More about public works in the next presentation…

• Just few points: formal employment targeting ‘hard-to-employ’; primarily unskilled workers; low level income transfer; w.r.t. social assistance recipients – the only activation program.

METHODOLOGY• A purposive sample• Respondents:

- social assistance recipients (20) and other disadvantaged (6);- 15 women and 11 men;- different backgrounds: urban, semi-urban, rural, and independent Roma settlements;- age range: 18 to 60 years; - most of them with completed only primary education (16); 2 young non-recipients had a university degree.

• Participating in 2 separate public works projects in 2008 (Ada and Kragujevac)

• The interviews were conducted face-to-face during February 2009.

• A broader set of questions in the interviews aimed at gaining insights in the participants’ overall experiences with public works and covering:

1. beneficiaries’ experiences with different types of assistance and support received,

2. the experience of direct participation in public works, and

3. their experience with social services in general.

In the interviews:

Focus on the question of the impact of work engagement on social assistance beneficiaries and their SWB outcomes.

Respondents were asked to compare their situation at the time of the interview with the one before the public work program came into effect (by judging whether their situation has improved, has stayed the same, or worsened).

The interviews entailed a self-assessment of changes concerning: - family income situation, - health status, - personal qualifications and skills, - desire to find a job, - chances to find a regular job, - social contacts, and - self-confidence.

FINDINGSSocio-Economic Status of Public Work Participants

• Social assistance benefit is usually described as a minimal benefit that covers only basic needs (bread, basic groceries, and, very often, utility payments); complemented with other transfers and informal work as their main survival strategy.

• Social assistance beneficiaries grade their experiences high on the subjective well-being measurements even when their basic needs remain unmet.

‘I feel as if, if this work continues, I am useful in this society. Why do I feel useful in the society? Because I also pay social contributions. Am I expressing my self well?...It means – I am useful! So, it means that I am providing assistance for someone else. Let the social assistance exist, but it should be given to those who really need assistance, who are not able to work. I think that' s what the Government should do. But, we the young, we should work. Okay, not all the people are well educated, but I think, for example, we all have our own qualification. Why wouldn't I be able to clean the streets?Why wouldn't I clean the street – it's a respectful job and I can earn decently?!?’

(male, 32 years)

• Enthusiastic explanations of their work experience and income earned in the public work (earned income as a matter of pride and happiness, financial security,mental stability ... vs. dependency and disappointment)

• However, only 3 interview participants, including 1 social assistance recipient, retained employment status after the completion of the public work project.

FINDINGS continued

Subjective Well-Being and Employability

• Employment has positivelly affected the level and kind of their SWB.

• Positive effects on certain aspects of life are larger than the objective outcome of being unemployed (as perceived by the program participants).

• Paths other than employment that impact on their well-being:- 'Qualifications and skills' had the strongest positive effect (signaling that the training component of public works programs might have had a rather positive impact);

- Limited but existing 'chances for employment'; rather optimistic statements in favor of their chances for future employment of those who experienced formal employment for the first time.

• However, family income levels remained the same or they even decreased (respondents had to wait to re-apply to social assistance; decreased informal job availability)

FINDINGS continued

Subjective Well-Being and Social Inclusion

• Level of social contacts and established confidence for social exchange were analyzed under the notion of social inclusion

• Personal contacts, established at work place, represented one of the core reasons for the very high subjective assessment of social contacts

• Increase in the level of self-confidence (particularly among the former social assistance recipients) enabled the participants to enhance their social interaction.

• The above mentioned was usually coupled with their willingness to look for a new job, the level of which has also dramatically increased.

• Respondents’ position/status in society has increased (their work is valued; they feel accepted and more integrated)

„I felt nice and free, and I felt that they accepted me in the society. That's the fact. Here, in our municipality, they accepted me very well. All of them, without exception: president, manager, to start with the highest positions...and all the others. They respected me and there was no discrimination. Somehow, it felt like a second family to me.“

(female, 35 years)

CONCLUSIONS

The linkages between subjective well-being and social inclusion are diffuse and cannot be well understood.

The positive effects of work engagement on subjective well-being of social assistance recipients appear to be very strong.

The evidence is strongest in relation to their perceptions about the level of attained qualifications and skills and social contacts.

The program has also impacted on individual welfare by strengthening job desire and self-confidence.

WHAT FOLLOWED AFTER…

Social assistance recipients can and they want to work, but there are no formal job opportunities for them…nor specifically designed activation programs.

Putting their activation on the government agenda was necessary Changing the laws and by-laws to move from ‘passive recipients of

social assistance’ to ‘active participants in solving their problems’ (New Social Welfare Law: ‘activation’, ‘individual activation plans’, ‘incentives’, ‘partnership agreements’)

Piloting a model of integrated service delivery among the institutions of social welfare, labor employment, and education (Youth Employment and Migration Project)

And similar…

Thank you!