Abstract
This chapter presents an application of subjective well-being measures to the analysis of a specific public policy. It explores whether and how activation of social assistance recipients through public works impacts on their subjective well-being outcomes. The program under analysis is the public works program in Serbia. This chapter provides a conceptual framework for understanding the main dimensions of subjective well-being for the unemployed poor and places the overall discussion in the context of work activation of welfare recipients. The applied qualitative analysis of the data obtained from semi-structured in-depth interviews focuses on the changes in different dimensions of subjective well-being. It takes into account the periods before and after the public work activity. Despite the low employment rate of program participants after the completion of the program, the qualitative analysis reveals significant positive impact of work engagement on subjective well-being of social assistance recipients. The evidence is strongest in relation to their positive perceptions about the level of acquired qualifications, skills, and social contacts.
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Notes
- 1.
The wage was 15% higher for those with completed high school and 30% and 45% higher for college and university degree holders, respectively.
- 2.
In this study, social assistance benefit refers to the financial social assistance—“materijalno obezbedjenje” or “novcana socijalna pomoc” (term used since April 2011)—run by the government of Serbia. The financial social assistance is the main guaranteed minimum income program in the country, and it is aimed at individuals and households with an income below the minimum social welfare threshold. As such, social assistance fills the gap between the household’s income and the established threshold.
- 3.
In 2008, the public works program was the only official program involving the activation of social assistance beneficiaries (see Petrovic 2009).
- 4.
Cummins identified 1,500 articles relating to “quality of life” and subsequently developed five criteria for the inclusion of the data on quality of life for the study. The selected 32 studies yielded 173 names of “domains” for the indicators of “quality of life.” Finally, each of the named domains was classified into one of his seven domain categories for the general population.
- 5.
The program under evaluation was Beautiful Serbia program—an ad hoc operation supported by the government of Serbia and donors which provided training and temporary employment to disadvantaged population.
- 6.
See Petrovic (2009).
- 7.
According to adaptation theory, people first react strongly to new circumstances, but they return to their original position over time (Diener et al. 1997).
- 8.
Public pension system in Serbia functions as a pay-as-you-go scheme.
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Petrovic, M. (2013). Subjective Well-Being, Activation Policies, and the Inclusion Agenda. In: Ruggeri Laderchi, C., Savastano, S. (eds) Poverty and Exclusion in the Western Balkans. Economic Studies in Inequality, Social Exclusion and Well-Being, vol 8. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4945-4_8
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