No claim, no pain. Measuring the non-take-up of social assistance using register data

Olivier Bargain, Herwig Immervoll and Heikki Viitamäki

The Journal of Economic Inequality, 2012, vol. 10, issue 3, 375-395

Abstract: The main objectives of social assistance benefits, including poverty alleviation and labor-market or social reintegration, can be seriously compromised if support is difficult to access. While recent studies point to high non-take-up rates, existing evidence does not make full use of the information recorded by benefit agencies. Most studies have to rely on interview-based data, with misreporting and measurement errors affecting the variables needed to establish both benefit receipt and benefit entitlement. In this paper, we exploit a unique combination of Finnish administrative data and eligibility simulations based on the tax-benefit calculator of the Finnish authorities, carefully investigating the measurement issues that remain. We find rates of non-take-up that are both substantial and robust: 40 to 50% of those eligible do not claim. Using repeated cross-section estimations for years 1996–2003, we identify a set of stable determinants of claiming behavior and suggest that changes in behavior could drive the observed downward trend in take-up rates during the post-recession period. We discuss the poverty implications of our results. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2012

Keywords: Take-up; Social assistance; Poverty; Register data; D31; H31; H53; I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (66)

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Working Paper: No Claim, No Pain: Measuring the Non-Take-up of Social Assistance Using Register Data (2010)
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DOI: 10.1007/s10888-010-9158-8

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