Which Duration of Unemployment Benefits is Perceived as Being Just for Which Groups? Results from a Factorial Survey Experiment in Germany

Abstract

Welfare states allocate and redistribute resources across different groups. For the social legitimacy of welfare states, public support of redistributive processes and outcomes is crucial. An important aspect in this context is the deservingness or non-deservingness of benefit recipients from the perspective of those who both financially contribute to the system and potentially benefit from it. We invited a random sample of the German labour force to participate in an online-survey. Using a factorial survey experiment, we described fictitious unemployed persons with different attributes and asked survey participants on the just maximum benefit duration for each particular case. Judgements regarding just benefit durations vary along the criteria of reciprocity, control, attitude and need: Respondents grant longer unemployment benefits to older jobseekers, as well as to jobseekers who became involuntarily unemployed, had stable employment careers, have to care for the elderly or are sole earners in the household.

The perceived fair duration of unemployment benefits for older workers. The role of lifetime achievements in the labour market

“…We found strong support for a c longer maximum benefit duration as a function of cumulative contributions to the unemployment insurance system over the course of the fictitious individual's life. This finding is in line with the results of other factorial surveys where fictitious benefit recipients who had been continuously employed were granted more generous benefits than those who had been employed irregularly or had had several episodes of unemployment (Osiander et al, 2022;Reeskens & van der Meer, 2019). Furthermore, our results indicate that certain activities during an individual's life course may equally signal deservingness.…”

“…The data were collected in the framework of a larger study between 4 November 2019 and 7 January 2020 (see Osiander et al, 2020). Based on a gross sample of about 35,000 persons, 25,000 of whom were contacted by email and 10,000 by post, a final sample size of 1319 completed questionnaires was achieved.…”

“…Moreover, within the group of unemployed—who are generally considered less deserving than the elderly—the perceived deservingness seems to increase with age. Several studies showed that the public would grant higher benefit levels or longer maximum benefit durations to older unemployed people than to younger ones and would link benefit receipt to fewer obligations than for the younger unemployed (Buss, 2019; Osiander et al, 2022; Osiander & Senghaas, 2020; Saunders, 2002). However, little is known so far about differentiations within the group of older unemployed persons.…”

Vocational training during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Under what conditions does the public support state subsidies for training firms?

“…We use a factorial survey experiment to examine which factors influence whether the public supports state subsidies paid to firms providing VET. Factorial survey experiments are a well‐established instrument in empirical justice research (e.g., Jasso, 2006; Liebig et al, 2015) and in studies of the perceived deservingness of potential welfare claimants (e.g., Osiander et al, 2022; Reeskens & van der Meer, 2019). In a factorial survey experiment, respondents respond to so‐called vignettes, that is, short scenarios consisting of a fictional situation.…”

Fairness perceptions regarding in-work benefits: a survey experiment

“…Among the unemployed, perceived deservingness has been shown to vary with, e.g. the cause of unemployment (control) or contributions made to society as a whole such as through parenting or care for relatives (reciprocity) (Buss, 2019; Osiander et al. , 2022).…”