The Effect of Job Search Requirements on Family Welfare Receipt

Key Question Being Explored in This Insight:

What were the effects of Australia’s 1995 reforms, which introduced job search requirements for partnered welfare recipients, on family welfare receipt and labor supply decisions?

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Institution: Deakin University

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What were the effects of Australia’s 1995 reforms, which introduced job search requirements for partnered welfare recipients, on family welfare receipt and labor supply decisions?

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This video discusses a study on welfare recipients and the impact of job search requirements on their welfare benefits. The study focuses on a specific group of older women and examines how the introduction of job search requirements affected their welfare status. The findings show a significant reduction in welfare recipients for those subject to the job search requirements compared to those who were not. The study also discusses the interconnectedness of welfare benefits within a household, highlighting how changes in one individual's welfare status can affect their partner's benefits as well. This video emphasizes the importance of considering family dynamics and potential impacts when designing optimal welfare policies. Additionally, it mentions the need to consider the implications of imposing additional requirements on welfare recipients.

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1. The video discusses the welfare system in Australia, highlighting the various types of payments available for different needs, such as for the elderly, disabled individuals, unemployed people, and parenting carers.

2. The eligibility for welfare payments in Australia is universal, meaning individuals do not need past employment contributions to qualify. However, there is a means-testing feature that reduces payments as income levels increase.

3. The video mentions changes in welfare policies over time, such as the introduction of job search requirements for dependent welfare recipients in 1995 and the phasing out of certain benefits for specific birth cohorts.

4. A study cited in the video evaluates the impact of job search requirements on welfare recipients, finding a significant reduction in welfare receipt for those subject to the requirements.

5. The video highlights the potential impact of policy changes on household dynamics, suggesting that job search requirements may influence decisions within households and potentially lead to increased labor supply among welfare recipients.

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Here are some key quotes from the video you :

1. "We have a different sort of payments for different type of needs."
2. "We want to be targeting helping people on low income so we have the means testing feature."
3. "We see the reduction in welfare receipt for the treatment group that people who are not being exempt is equal to about 50% of the welfare receipt of the targeted group."
4. "We also see a similar site of reduction so we see a strong welfare benefits coordination between the husband and wife or the between the partners."
5. "When the welfare system started to put more older family into that job search requirements, we might have more people get off welfare."
6. "Due to our limitation of the dataset, we have only welfare with status. We don't have the employment status."

These quotes highlight key points related to welfare payments, means testing, effects of policy changes, coordination between partners, and potential impacts on welfare recipients.

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I'm working on the welfare, recipient behavior,

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a welfare recipient all my life,

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and over a cup of coffee with one of my colleague.

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We become my co-author.

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And we say that it's very interesting

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setting in Australia here.

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We have a like very nice design

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and cut in type of reform that see

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that some people are subject to the upset requirement

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and some people are not.

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And that came about to our study

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because we want to add into that literature.

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Our welfare system is include a set, maybe similar

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to the Britains pretty much that a set

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of income support recipients, sorry, pay payments

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that are quite comprehensive for the, for the aided pension

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and for the people with, disabilities, for the people,

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unemployed people, and also for parenting carers, et cetera.

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So we got a different, different sort of, payments

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for different type of needs.

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And this a bit distinctive in the sense that

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our system, the, the eligibility is

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universal.

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So it, it time unlimited

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and as well as you don't need to have past contribution.

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You don't have employment contribution, et cetera

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to be eligible for the payment.

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However, because we want

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to be targeting helpings people on the low income

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and no, very low asset.

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So we have the mean testing feature,

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which become very interesting in in our context.

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So this mean, testing feature is that if you,

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on very low incomes

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and so partner have no income, you have full payments.

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But as like the earnings above the, the, the,

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the sort of lower pressure, the payments

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will be gradually reduced.

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And after that we have a partner

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and the partner earnings above the, the kind of pressure,

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then the payments also,

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being reduced.

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So that is create some interesting dynamics within the

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household decisions.

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Less thinking about the, the policy chains in, in, in,

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in this setting is that, in 1995,

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the government have a position to

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the welfare payment called panel allowance

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with the targeting for dependent of welfare recipients.

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And the panel allowance, have the benefit amount,

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the same with the unemployment benefit,

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but they don't need to solve any job search requirement.

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So they, they can be on that payment

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Without any requirement.

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But in July, 1995, the government tried to face out that

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that payment, so they say that only women S 40

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or up at that point will be eligible.

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The rest will move to an benefit, which is

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you need to have that job search requirement for them.

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So that, and in, in, in September, 2003,

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that panel allowance is clo up to new engines.

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So from July nine, five

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to September, 2003,

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we have like the women who born

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after the date of birth cutoff, which is 1st of July,

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1955, they are subject

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to requirement to retain their benefit payments.

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And the people born before that don't have to.

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So we have a really good set up design to

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evaluate those job requirements.

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So in the literature, that's the question you asked me is

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that, in the literature we have a lot of, sort of,

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studies try to look at the

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changings in sort of the intensities of,

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exhaustive requirement.

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For example, like the, sometimes they might not able

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to monitoring the requirement

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or they, they increase the number absorbs that people

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required to apply, et cetera.

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But to study whether or not people are subject to it

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and people not subject

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to it is a rare sort of opportunities.

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Women born in the 1st of July, before the first,

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before and on the 1st of July, 1990, 55,

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they eligible, eligible for partner allowance.

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And the people after that they not.

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So we have some sort of like dis discontinuity designs.

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So we can compare, contrast the people

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very close to that pressure.

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And then we can look at the welfare recipients, status

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and also the partner welfare recipient status.

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And then we can work out, you know,

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what's the magnitude reduction in the welfare,

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recipients of the affected group.

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We got the very good data set from the government,

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from the welfare recipient, the whole population

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of welfare recipients.

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So this data, and we know very importantly,

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we know the exact date of birth

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and the full history of welfare reset.

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And on top of that, we also have the information about,

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you know, if you own welfare, who is your partner

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and whether the the little birth the partner, and whether

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The partner also on welfare receipt or not.

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So through that we are able to, to, to follow

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the, the, the, the welfare recipients and their partners

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and also the target group

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and the one that exam from the policy chain.

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And that what we, we we estimate the result

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and what we found the result is very autonomous.

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What we see is that we see the reduction in welfare reset

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for the treatment for, for the treatment group that people

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who are not being exempt is equal

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to about 50% of the welfare receipt

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of the targeted group.

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So that's very high.

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And what is more, interesting is

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that we also see a similar site of reduction

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of welfare receipt for the partners.

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So we see that the strong welfare benefits, you know,

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coordination between the husband and wife

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or the, between the partners.

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And you think about a women who got empowered by

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that job search requirement

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that it add into like some sort, some sort

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of cost to them utility, this utility cost to them.

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So they might problem them that I want to find a job

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and I might, I might get a job.

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And once they get a job,

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then the benefit payment wouldn't be reduced.

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But when they work harder

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but higher income than the partner

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payment also be affected.

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So maybe the end up may be more beneficial for them,

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for board of them to get up work

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and thinking of the other way, maybe it's a happy family.

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Then you see that, you know,

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a male welfare recipient sees the male, a female

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recipient be subject to that jobs requirement.

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The male recipient welfare recipient might say

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that I is looking for jobs in steps

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so we can have enough income

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and we can get off,

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the welfare system when we have a main testing system

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and when we are putting the family income into the equation,

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whenever we desire our, a, a, a policy, we sit,

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we should look at the family response.

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And then we just need to think about that

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before we design a optimal policy.

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But related to that, the welfare recipient,

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the job set requirement literature or, or,

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or that sort of policy space, then it means that,

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when the, welfare system started to put more

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older family into that

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Job set requirements, we might have more people,

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you know, get off welfare.

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But some caveat I want to, to, to say here is

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that we look at a select group of older women.

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These older women are healthy, they don't have any children

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to be taken care of.

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So I guess that sort of, that imposition will not have sort

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of translate into the effect

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on the health too much

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or on the impact on their time spending

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with the children, for example.

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So that is something that I, I want

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to just say it out there.

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And so the effect for this older group

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might be stronger than the effect

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for the younger group when they have a,

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a family with children.

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Um, in the picture, due to our limitation of the dataset,

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we have only welfare with status.

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We don't have the employment status,

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but we did see that from what we are thinking is

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that we have to have the household labor supply respond,

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but we good for us to see who respond is that both husband

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and wife responded or we see only one of them.

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And, that would be interesting to see

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and also to see that the, the health impact,

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dynamic family impact of the policy

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and the thinking a bit further on this sort of research,

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I'm thinking about more about the cost

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for the government in when we think about imposing the

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requirements, how that impact on, on, on, on, on

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to like try to, make it happen.

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And also on sort of the impact on the welfare sphere as well

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because that is a bit of, psych

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impact on the welfare recipient

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and that is something that we need to be, wary of

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when we impose things.

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Any sort of additional, requirements,

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on the welfare recipients.

Quick Answers

Welfare Recipient Behavior Analysis

00:00:00 - I'm working on the welfare, recipient behavior, a welfare recipient all my life, and over a cup of coffee with one of my colleague. We become my co-author. And we say that it's very interesting setting in Australia here. We have a like very nice design and cut in type of reform that see that some people are subject to the upset requirement and some people are not. And that came about to our study because we want to add into that literature.

00:00:34 - to the Britains pretty much that a set of income support recipients, sorry, pay payments that are quite comprehensive for the, for the aided pension and for the people with, disabilities, for the people, unemployed people, and also for parenting carers, et cetera. So we got a different, different sort of, payments for different type of needs.

00:01:07 - our system, the, the eligibility is universal. So it, it time unlimited and as well as you don't need to have past contribution. You don't have employment contribution, et cetera to be eligible for the payment. However, because we want to be targeting helpings people on the low income

Analysis of Welfare Recipient Payment Dynamics

00:01:38 - So we have the mean testing feature, which become very interesting in in our context. So this mean, testing feature is that if you, on very low incomes and so partner have no income, you have full payments. But as like the earnings above the, the, the, the sort of lower pressure, the payments will be gradually reduced.

00:02:07 - and the partner earnings above the, the kind of pressure, then the payments also, being reduced. So that is create some interesting dynamics within the household decisions. Less thinking about the, the policy chains in, in, in, in this setting is that, in 1995, the government have a position to

00:02:39 - with the targeting for dependent of welfare recipients. And the panel allowance, have the benefit amount, the same with the unemployment benefit, but they don't need to solve any job search requirement. So they, they can be on that payment Without any requirement. But in July, 1995, the government tried to face out that

Analyzing Job Requirement Changes in Welfare Systems

00:03:12 - or up at that point will be eligible. The rest will move to an benefit, which is you need to have that job search requirement for them. So that, and in, in, in September, 2003, that panel allowance is clo up to new engines. So from July nine, five

00:03:42 - we have like the women who born after the date of birth cutoff, which is 1st of July, 1955, they are subject to requirement to retain their benefit payments. And the people born before that don't have to. So we have a really good set up design to evaluate those job requirements. So in the literature, that's the question you asked me is

00:04:14 - studies try to look at the changings in sort of the intensities of, exhaustive requirement. For example, like the, sometimes they might not able to monitoring the requirement or they, they increase the number absorbs that people required to apply, et cetera. But to study whether or not people are subject to it

Welfare Recipient Discontinuity Analysis

00:04:44 - to it is a rare sort of opportunities. Women born in the 1st of July, before the first, before and on the 1st of July, 1990, 55, they eligible, eligible for partner allowance. And the people after that they not. So we have some sort of like dis discontinuity designs. So we can compare, contrast the people very close to that pressure.

00:05:19 - and also the partner welfare recipient status. And then we can work out, you know, what's the magnitude reduction in the welfare, recipients of the affected group. We got the very good data set from the government, from the welfare recipient, the whole population of welfare recipients. So this data, and we know very importantly, we know the exact date of birth and the full history of welfare reset. And on top of that, we also have the information about,

00:05:53 - and whether the the little birth the partner, and whether The partner also on welfare receipt or not. So through that we are able to, to, to follow the, the, the, the welfare recipients and their partners and also the target group and the one that exam from the policy chain. And that what we, we we estimate the result

Welfare Recipient Behavior Analysis

00:06:25 - What we see is that we see the reduction in welfare reset for the treatment for, for the treatment group that people who are not being exempt is equal to about 50% of the welfare receipt of the targeted group. So that's very high. And what is more, interesting is that we also see a similar site of reduction

00:06:57 - So we see that the strong welfare benefits, you know, coordination between the husband and wife or the, between the partners. And you think about a women who got empowered by that job search requirement that it add into like some sort, some sort of cost to them utility, this utility cost to them. So they might problem them that I want to find a job

00:07:27 - And once they get a job, then the benefit payment wouldn't be reduced. But when they work harder but higher income than the partner payment also be affected. So maybe the end up may be more beneficial for them, for board of them to get up work and thinking of the other way, maybe it's a happy family. Then you see that, you know, a male welfare recipient sees the male, a female

Family Dynamics and Welfare Recipient Behavior

00:08:02 - The male recipient welfare recipient might say that I is looking for jobs in steps so we can have enough income and we can get off, the welfare system when we have a main testing system and when we are putting the family income into the equation, whenever we desire our, a, a, a policy, we sit, we should look at the family response. And then we just need to think about that

00:08:35 - But related to that, the welfare recipient, the job set requirement literature or, or, or that sort of policy space, then it means that, when the, welfare system started to put more older family into that Job set requirements, we might have more people, you know, get off welfare. But some caveat I want to, to, to say here is

00:09:08 - These older women are healthy, they don't have any children to be taken care of. So I guess that sort of, that imposition will not have sort of translate into the effect on the health too much or on the impact on their time spending with the children, for example. So that is something that I, I want to just say it out there.

Family Dynamics and Welfare Requirements Impact

00:09:38 - might be stronger than the effect for the younger group when they have a, a family with children. in the picture, due to our limitation of the dataset, we have only welfare with status. We don't have the employment status, but we did see that from what we are thinking is that we have to have the household labor supply respond, but we good for us to see who respond is that both husband

00:10:11 - And, that would be interesting to see and also to see that the, the health impact, dynamic family impact of the policy and the thinking a bit further on this sort of research, I'm thinking about more about the cost for the government in when we think about imposing the requirements, how that impact on, on, on, on, on to like try to, make it happen.

00:11:01 - because that is a bit of, psych impact on the welfare recipient and that is something that we need to be, wary of when we impose things. Any sort of additional, requirements, on the welfare recipients.

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