Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/308336 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17477
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We present an empirical assessment of the accessibility and levels of 'safety-net' benefits. Complementing existing studies, which often adopt an institutional focus or compare legal entitlement rules, it employs a people-centred perspective, using data on cash support that people receive in practice. The approach is illustrated by comparing minimum-income benefits (MIB) and other non-contributory transfers across 14 OECD countries in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. Accessibility differs widely across countries and family circumstances. When out of work and in the bottom income decile, more than 4 out of 5 single-person households reported receiving MIB in Australia, France, and the United Kingdom, compared to 1 in 3 in Italy. In some countries, even very low earnings made benefit receipt unlikely, weakening financial work incentives. Typical benefit payouts to low-income claimants amounted to 15% of median household incomes or less in Greece, Korea, and the United States, but exceeded 40% in Belgium and the United Kingdom. Support from non-contributory transfers varied across groups, with countries variously focusing support on people with health problems (Italy) or on families with children (Germany, Greece, United States).
Subjects: 
adequacy
non-take-up
accessibility
coverage
minimum-income benefits
poverty
JEL: 
H53
H31
D31
I38
C31
C53
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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