Social assistance trajectories among young adults in Finland: What are the determinants of welfare dependency?

Abstract

Social assistance receipt is typical among young adults, but the long‐term trajectories of social assistance receipt have been less studied. We use Finnish population register data to study the kinds of social assistance trajectories found among young adults. We also analyze how individual and family characteristics are associated with the likelihood of following different social assistance trajectories. Individuals are followed from the age of 19 to 25. According to the results, social assistance receipt is relatively common among young adults but spell duration is usually short. Around 35% receive social assistance at least once between the ages of 19 and 25, and 2.5% receive social assistance each year. Using latent class growth analysis, we estimated six trajectories based on the annual number of social assistance months: (1) no receipt; (2) transitory; (3) slow exit; (4) occasional; (5) increase; and (6) dependency. Almost 4% of young adults follow the “dependency” trajectory. The results from multinomial logistic regression indicate that having only a short education is a particularly strong predictor of social assistance dependency. Parental social assistance receipt and moving out of the parental home at a young age are also significant predictors of social assistance receipt.

Inattention in boys from low-income backgrounds predicts welfare receipt: a 30-year prospective study

“…Studies of trajectories of long-term welfare receipt are scarce. Previous work shows that the proportion of participants following trajectories of chronic welfare receipt vary from 3.8% in a Finnish population sample (Ilmakunnas and Moisio, 2019), to 6.9% for low-income households in South Korea (Kim and Shin, 2014), to 10.1% among African American women living in low-income neighborhoods of Chicago (Juon et al ., 2010). While methodological and contextual differences (e.g.…”

Social Assistance Dynamics among Young Adults in Finland: Duration Dependence and the Role of Parental Recipiency

“…Among young adults, parental social assistance receipt is especially associated with long-term take-up of social assistance (Ilmakunnas and Moisio, 2019). Additionally, parental social assistance receipt has a stronger association with offspring recipiency than with other frequently studied dimensions of parental disadvantage (Ringbäck Weitoft et al, 2008;Kauppinen et al, 2014;Ilmakunnas and Moisio, 2019). Earlier research has pointed out that state dependence in social assistance receipt seems to be stronger among disadvantaged groups (Immervoll, Jenkins and Königs, 2015).…”

“…Stenberg, 2000;Moisio et al, 2015). Among young adults, parental social assistance receipt is especially associated with long-term take-up of social assistance (Ilmakunnas and Moisio, 2019). Additionally, parental social assistance receipt has a stronger association with offspring recipiency than with other frequently studied dimensions of parental disadvantage (Ringbäck Weitoft et al, 2008;Kauppinen et al, 2014;Ilmakunnas and Moisio, 2019).…”

“…Previous studies into this association have been limited since they have not analysed continuous social assistance histories (see e.g. Kauppinen et al, 2014;Ilmakunnas and Moisio, 2019).…”

New administrative data on welfare dynamics in Germany: the Sample of Integrated Welfare Benefit Biographies (SIG)

“…With methods of sequence analysis a few studies have analysed the trajectories of benefit recipients. For example, Ilmakunnas and Moisio (2019) investigate the different paths of benefit dependence of young adults in Finland, and Hümbelin and Fritschi (2018) analyse the employment-benefit trajectories of welfare recipients in Switzerland. In both studies, a large share of recipients successfully integrate into the labour market over time (Hümbelin and Fritschi 2018) or receive benefits only temporarily (Ilmakunnas and Moisio 2019).…”