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Annual ESPAnet Conference 2012, Date: 2012/09/06 - 2012/09/08, Location: Edinburgh

Publication date: 2012-01-01

Author:

Struyven, Ludo
Kuppens, Janne ; Groenez, Steven

Keywords:

social assistance, social integration, employment activation, municipal size, region

Abstract:

Today the local social offices in Belgium represent much more than purely providing benefits to those on income support or related benefits (or their equivalents) and support to the needy. So it is known that activation to paid work has taken a prominent place in the operation of the local social office. Less known is that the local social offices are also developing a large range of actions in the area of social activation. This paper examines to what extent social activation can be seen as a further differentiation of the services offered for those for whom employment activation is not considered feasible. The central question is which factors affect the extent in which the local social offices are offering this type of ‘social activation’, and how this is related to the employment activation of their clients. Our data are based on a web survey in 2011 with responsible officers of a sample of 234 local social offices in Belgium. Making use of structural equation modeling, we come to the conclusion that the variation in the extent of social activation can be explained from contextual, local policy and organizational factors. There are striking differences between the regions in the role that the local policy vision on activation plays for the degree of social activation in the commune.