Lack of support prolongs unemployment
Economist evaluated Swiss unemployment insurance data

Date:
October 8, 2020
Source:
University of Bonn
Summary:
Unemployed persons whose appointment with the responsible caseworker
at the employment office is canceled unexpectedly remain unemployed
for an average of twelve days longer.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Everyone has to call in sick at work at some point. With caseworkers
at the employment office, however, a sudden absence has direct economic consequences for a third party: The people they support are unemployed on average five percent longer if a meeting is canceled, which corresponds
to a period of twelve days. This may sound rather trivial, but it can
entail considerable costs for both the welfare state and the individual concerned.


========================================================================== Amelie Schiprowski, economist of the Cluster of Excellence ECONtribute
at the Universities of Cologne and Bonn (Germany), evaluated Swiss
unemployment insurance data from 2010 to 2012 and investigated how
much the personal interaction with caseworkers matters for unemployed individuals. She found out: The duration of unemployment depends to a
large extent on how reliable and committed the support provided by the employment office is.

Regular support important for reintegration Caseworkers at the employment office help to reintegrate unemployment benefit recipients into the
labor market. A spontaneous absence of a caseworker reduces the average
number of meetings that an unemployed individual can attend. As there
are only about two to three meetings per half-year, one missed meeting corresponds in the analyzed data to about 40 percent of support time. The cancellation of a meeting results on average in a five percent longer unemployment spell. This means in turn that regular support is very
important for successful reintegration.

Quantity and quality are important The economist divided the observed caseworkers into two groups according to their productivity; productivity
means how quickly, on average, the people they supported found a job
again. The result: Absences of less productive caseworkers have no
negative effect, while the absence of a more productive caseworker
extends unemployment by an average of 13 percent. The negative impact
of a canceled appointment therefore depends on the quality of the support.

Investment in human capital can reduce duration of unemployment The paper highlights the economic importance of staff at the employment office.

"Caseworkers are underestimated as an important resource for welfare
states," says Amelie Schiprowski. Every day of additional unemployment
is expensive for the state. Unemployment could be decreased by reducing
the workload of individual caseworkers to facilitate more individual
meetings, and by investing into the quality of the support provision.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bonn. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Amelie Schiprowski. The Role of Caseworkers in Unemployment
Insurance:
Evidence from Unplanned Absences. Journal of Labor Economics,
2020; 38 (4): 1189 DOI: 10.1086/706092 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201008104244.htm

--- up 6 weeks, 3 days, 6 hours, 50 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)