Non-take-up as a social experience. Towards a typology of not claiming social benefits

Non-take-up of financial social benefits is a prominent issue for contemporary welfare states, and studies exploring its causes have proliferated recently. However, most analyses are based on an “incapacity framework” or refer to a “rational choice model”, which makes it difficult to access the mean...

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Main Author: Barbara Lucas
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG 2024-12-01
Series:Culture, Practice & Europeanization
Online Access:https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/2566-7742-2024-2-176
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author Barbara Lucas
author_facet Barbara Lucas
author_sort Barbara Lucas
collection DOAJ
description Non-take-up of financial social benefits is a prominent issue for contemporary welfare states, and studies exploring its causes have proliferated recently. However, most analyses are based on an “incapacity framework” or refer to a “rational choice model”, which makes it difficult to access the meaning that people attach to non-take-up. Based on qualitative research on the non‑take‑up of financial benefits by families living in Geneva, Switzerland, this paper proposes to explore this meaning by considering non-take-up as a social experience situated at the intersection of different logics of action: integration, strategy and subjectivation. This approach enables us to grasp how social inequalities, stigmatisation and discrimination – as structural explanations for non-take-up theorised separately in the literature – together help to shape different meanings of non-take-up. More precisely, we identify four meanings of not claiming social benefits in the narratives of the people interviewed, which are captured through four figures: Non-take-up as a means to combat social exclusion (Mr. Breadwinner); non-take-up as a consequence of the inadequacy of social policies (the Single Mother); non-take-up as part of an intergenerational integration project (the Migrant Worker); and non-take-up as an ethical stance (the Ethical Intellectual).
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spelling doaj-art-0cb57deb87a546f7b5f30f61023cf7492025-01-07T10:28:05ZdeuNomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KGCulture, Practice & Europeanization2566-77422024-12-019217620110.5771/2566-7742-2024-2-1761057712566774220242176Non-take-up as a social experience. Towards a typology of not claiming social benefitsBarbara LucasNon-take-up of financial social benefits is a prominent issue for contemporary welfare states, and studies exploring its causes have proliferated recently. However, most analyses are based on an “incapacity framework” or refer to a “rational choice model”, which makes it difficult to access the meaning that people attach to non-take-up. Based on qualitative research on the non‑take‑up of financial benefits by families living in Geneva, Switzerland, this paper proposes to explore this meaning by considering non-take-up as a social experience situated at the intersection of different logics of action: integration, strategy and subjectivation. This approach enables us to grasp how social inequalities, stigmatisation and discrimination – as structural explanations for non-take-up theorised separately in the literature – together help to shape different meanings of non-take-up. More precisely, we identify four meanings of not claiming social benefits in the narratives of the people interviewed, which are captured through four figures: Non-take-up as a means to combat social exclusion (Mr. Breadwinner); non-take-up as a consequence of the inadequacy of social policies (the Single Mother); non-take-up as part of an intergenerational integration project (the Migrant Worker); and non-take-up as an ethical stance (the Ethical Intellectual).https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/2566-7742-2024-2-176
spellingShingle Barbara Lucas
Non-take-up as a social experience. Towards a typology of not claiming social benefits
Culture, Practice & Europeanization
title Non-take-up as a social experience. Towards a typology of not claiming social benefits
title_full Non-take-up as a social experience. Towards a typology of not claiming social benefits
title_fullStr Non-take-up as a social experience. Towards a typology of not claiming social benefits
title_full_unstemmed Non-take-up as a social experience. Towards a typology of not claiming social benefits
title_short Non-take-up as a social experience. Towards a typology of not claiming social benefits
title_sort non take up as a social experience towards a typology of not claiming social benefits
url https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/2566-7742-2024-2-176
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