During the first two decades of the twenty-first century, the United States and much of the developed world were rocked by three successive economic shocks, each one more severe than the one before. Real relief from these economic shocks, of course, can only come from a restored economy--with balanced strength across many sectors and regions. Safety-net programs can also help alleviate this suffering. They provide urgent financial help and, when properly designed, can assist, motivate, or nudge recipients to seek and accept new employment. When necessary, they can help recipients to learn new skills and engage in other socially preferred behaviors. That is, they can "activate" the unemployed and underemployed.Work and the Social Safety Net: Labor Activation in Europe and the United States describes how in the 1990s and early 2000s many European countries adopted policy reforms aimed at activating those recipients apparently able to work. These policy reforms were put to the test during the Great Recession and its aftermath. This volume reviews the experiences from both Europe and the United States during this period, and includes two chapters apiece on unemployment insurance, social assistance, disability, public employment services, and political economy. Work and the Social Safety Net identifies policies for activating recipients of safety-net programs while still preserving a strong social safety net--as a guide during the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and future downturns.

About the AuthorsChapter 1: Introduction: European and US Experiences with Labor ActivationDouglas J. Besharov and Douglas M. CallChapter 2: Activation and Employment Support Policies for Stronger and Fairer Labor MarketsStefano ScarpettaChapter 3: Early Activation in European Union Unemployment Insurance ProgramsM?rton Csillag and Anna Adamecz-V?lgyiChapter 4: Unemployment Insurance after the Great RecessionJacob Alex KlermanChapter 5: Activation in Eight European Social Assistance ProgramsIvar L?demel and Am?lcar MoreiraChapter 6: Less Activation in US Social Assistance Programs?Matthew WeidingerChapter 7: Five Decades of Disability Benefit Policies in Five OECD CountriesDuncan McVicar, Roger Wilkins, and Nicolas R. ZiebarthChapter 8: Lessons for US Disability Policy from Other OECD CountriesRichard V. Burkhauser and Mary C. DalyChapter 9: Activation in Public Employment Services in EuropeJ. Timo Weishaupt, Henning J?rgensen, and Alexander NunnChapter 10: Workforce Development Services in the United StatesCarolyn J. HeinrichChapter 11: Whither Activation Policies? Reflections for the FutureJohn P. MartinChapter 12: Lessons for Labor Policy in the Aftermath of the Great RecessionEdward MontgomeryIndex