Welfare to work and the inclusive labour market: a comparative study of activation policies for disability and long-term sickness benefit claimants in the UK and Denmark

Abstract

The increasing number of recipients of disability and long-term sickness benefits has resulted in the introduction of specific employability programmes in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. In the UK Pathways to Work involved enabling and support measures for benefit recipients with long-term health conditions. In Denmark ‘flex-jobs’ are an integral occupational health intervention for both employed and unemployed people with reduced working capacity. Through a comparative analysis primarily based on stakeholder interviews in both countries, this paper argues that the concept of an inclusive labour market strategy is crucial to assisting these groups into work, underpinned by governance and a politics of representation. In Denmark both the role of the social partners and subsidized employment are significant. In the UK governance has been constrained and insufficient attention has been paid to income security. Comparing these two models highlights policy learning for the UK from the successes of and challenges to the Danish model.

The activation logic in national sickness absence policies: Comparing the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland

“…This manner of regulating characterizes the 'Danish model' (Etherington and Ingold, 2012), in which there are 'few legal instruments targeted at the labour market and much more is left to agreement between the social partners' (R3). This approach should lead to voluntary initiatives, related to the discourse of social responsibility in Denmark (Rosdahl, 2002).…”

Legal Mobilization within the Bureaucracy: Disability Rights and the Implementation of Antidiscrimination Law in Sweden

“…(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009) Until the 1990s, the state mostly played the role of a provision supplier for people with disabilities. As in other Scandinavian social-democratic models based on universalistic social protection and an inclusive labor market (Etherington and Ingold 2012;Waldschmidt 2009), the social welfare model of disability has been predominant. In this system, disability policy is based on important redistributive provisions and on the ambition to maximize participation in paid work.…”

Assessing the Evidence Base on Health, Employability and the Labour Market – Lessons for Activation in the UK

“…In common with the UK, there is also a reluctance among policymakers to acknowledge the importance of demand‐side labour market factors in shaping DB claiming, perhaps suggesting that there are ‘growing similarities in the policy discourses around activation’ in Denmark and the UK (Etherington and Ingold : 31).…”