Mental Capacities, Self-reliance and Policy

Abstract

Society today makes heavy demands on people's self-reliance and that is only expected to increase in the years ahead. 1 In this book, we have studied which mental capacities are needed to be self-reliant in our society. It is generally acknowledged that intelligence and the ability to read, write and understand maths are critical to self-reliance. A minimum capacity to think is a prerequisite for being able to function in modern-day society. To be self-reliant, people must be capable of gathering and understanding information and assessing its worth. Figure 6.1 illustrates this. Fig. 6.1 Capacity to think The limits of the human capacity to think and judge have generated considerable interest in recent years. 2 Research in the behavioural sciences shows that there are limits to people's capacity to assess information and make rational decisions. Such insights are also increasingly being incorporated into policy. The United Kingdom established a Behavioural Insights Team in 2010; inspired by its example, the Netherlands has set up a Behavioural Insights Network (BIN-NL).

‘Unprecedented injustice’: Digitalisation and the perceived accessibility of childcare benefits

“…The former finding may indicate that the concept of functional literacy may reflect the skills needed to navigate the system as well as personality traits and psychosocial factors, such as coping styles. For example, research published after our study on a representative group of Dutch citizens suggests individuals differ in their 'doenvermogen', that is, their 'capacity to act' (Keizer et al, 2019). Several factors constituting this capacity to act might also be relevant for functional literacy, such as stress, self-efficacy (one's belief in oneself), and having an approach-or avoidancetemperament (acknowledging and tackling problems versus ignoring problems; Elliot & Thrash, 2010;Haushofer & Fehr, 2014;WRR, 2017).…”

“…The measure for functional literacy, developed using desk research and qualitative cognitive pre-testing, PCA and reliability analyses, is reliable and internally consistent. While focused on childcare benefits, minor adaptations to this measure could broaden its applicability for assessing functional literacy in other policy contexts as well, which is crucial in societies in which individuals are increasingly expected to function self-sufficiently in complex policy environments (Keizer et al, 2019).…”

“…Current conceptualisations recognise that functional literacy increasingly relates to societal participation (Elley, 2001), and thus more broadly encompasses the various competencies individuals need in order to function appropriately in society (Gutstein, 2012). Someone who is functionally literate has the skills, knowledge, and capacities to be familiar with the system and knows how to navigate it (Keizer, Tiemeijer, & Bovens, 2019).…”

“…Both digital and functional literacy are not ubiquitous, which can affect the accessibility of online services, such as childcare benefits. Dutch parents are expected to be able to complete the online childcare benefit application self-sufficiently, yet many parents have difficulties doing so (Keizer et al, 2019;Roeters & Bucx, 2018), potentially given insufficient functional and digital literacy. The application procedure demands various competencies requiring digital and functional literacy that parents can struggle with: they need reading skills to understand the website, the digital skills required to log on to an online government system using a web-based security system (DigiD) and to navigate the online policy process, as well as the functional literacy skills necessary to estimate their annual income and organise all the information required to complete the application.…”