The main objectives of social assistance bene…ts, including poverty alleviation and labormarket or social reintegration, can be seriously compromised if support is di¢ cult to access.While recent studies point to high non-take-up rates, existing evidence does not make full use of the information recorded by bene…t agencies. Most studies have to rely on interview-based data, with misreporting and measurement errors a¤ecting the variables needed to establish both bene…t receipt and bene…t entitlement. In this paper, we exploit a unique combination of Finnish administrative data and eligibility simulations based on the tax-bene…t calculator of the Finnish authorities, carefully investigating the measurement issues that remain. We …nd rates of non-take-up that are both substantial and robust: 40% to 50% of those eligible do not claim. Using repeated cross-section estimations for years 1996-2003, we identify a set of stable determinants of claiming behavior and suggest that changes in behavior could drive the observed downward trend in take-up rates during the post-recession period. We discuss the poverty implications of our results.

The main objectives of social assistance benefits, including poverty alleviation and labormarket or social reintegration, can be seriously compromised if support is difficult to access. While recent studies point to high non-take-up rates, existing evidence does not make full use of the information recorded by benefit agencies. Most studies have to rely on interviewbased data, with misreporting and measurement errors affecting the variables needed to establish both benefit receipt and benefit entitlement. In this paper, we exploit a unique combination of Finnish administrative data and eligibility simulations based on the tax-benefit calculator of the Finnish authorities, carefully investigating the measurement issues that remain. We find rates of non-take-up that are both substantial and robust: 40% to 50% of those eligible do not claim. Using repeated cross-section estimations for years 1996-2003, we identify a set of stable determinants of claiming behavior and suggest that changes in behavior could drive the observed downward trend in take-up rates during the post-recession period. We discuss the poverty implications of our results.

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