A poisoned gift? The hireability signals of an income-support program for the senior unemployed

Axana Dalle, Philippe Sterkens and Stijn Baert
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Axana Dalle: Ghent University
Philippe Sterkens: Ghent University

JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, 2024, vol. 90, issue 4, 553-588

Abstract: Many Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries invest heavily in labor-market programs to prolong careers. Although active labor-market programs have frequently been evaluated, less is known about passive programs supporting unemployed seniors financially. We focus on the latter by investigating the hiring opportunities of candidates who partake in a regime that ensures dismissed seniors a company supplement alongside regular unemployment benefits. Therefore, we conduct a scenario experiment in which genuine recruiters evaluate fictitious candidates who have spent varying durations unemployed in regimes with and without the company supplement. Because recruiters evaluate candidates' hireability and productivity perceptions, we can identify underlying mechanisms. Overall, we find no evidence of employer-side stigma hindering the re-employment of seniors unemployed in the program. Conversely, longer-term unemployed even benefit from this regime because it mitigates regular stigmatization of long-term unemployment, especially for men. Specifically, recruiters judge them more mildly – particularly regarding flexibility – when they receive the supplement and still apply.

Keywords: Hiring discrimination; Signalling effect; Income support; Labor-market program; Scenario experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J14 J32 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-12-01
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https://doi.org/10.1017/dem.2024.11 (application/pdf)

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Working Paper: A Poisoned Gift? The Hireability Signals of an Income-Support Program for the Senior Unemployed (2023)
Working Paper: A poisoned gift? The hireability signals of an income-support program for the senior unemployed* (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ctl:louvde:v:90:y:2024:i:4:p:553-588

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