Who deserves to access their rights? Inequality in the action against non-take-up

The issue of non-take-up has increasingly been brought to light by scholars and field actors during the past decade. As a result, the issue gained political traction, and programs have been designed to reduce it. In canton Geneva, Switzerland, a town’s social services have recently launched two prog...

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Main Authors: Max Lovey, Jean-Michel Bonvin
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG 2024-12-01
Series:Culture, Practice & Europeanization
Online Access:https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/2566-7742-2024-2-134
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author Max Lovey
Jean-Michel Bonvin
author_facet Max Lovey
Jean-Michel Bonvin
author_sort Max Lovey
collection DOAJ
description The issue of non-take-up has increasingly been brought to light by scholars and field actors during the past decade. As a result, the issue gained political traction, and programs have been designed to reduce it. In canton Geneva, Switzerland, a town’s social services have recently launched two programs to enhance access to social rights. In this paper, we explore, notably through the lens of the deservingness literature, the variety of ways in which sub-groups of the population interact with the local authorities’ commitment to tackle non-take-up. Based on 45 semi-structured interviews with recipients, social workers and managers of these municipal programs, as well as stakeholders at cantonal level, we assess how the design, implementation and reception of the programs by their targeted population influence their unequal outcome. Our results show how the perception of various sub-groups of the population as more or less deserving informs how social policy is designed at macro level; implemented by state administration at federal and cantonal level and mediated by action against non-take-up at municipal level; and received by beneficiaries at micro level. By reproducing the deservingness rationale identified in the literature, local action against non-take-up tends to fuel a cumulative (dis-)advantage dynamic, and therefore reinforce or reproduce dynamics of inequality between sub-groups of the population whose starting point in terms of access to social rights does not seem to differ significantly.
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spelling doaj-art-7afa0fe559cb4a6da74f4f920431f47d2025-01-07T10:28:05ZdeuNomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KGCulture, Practice & Europeanization2566-77422024-12-019213415210.5771/2566-7742-2024-2-1341057712566774220242134Who deserves to access their rights? Inequality in the action against non-take-upMax LoveyJean-Michel BonvinThe issue of non-take-up has increasingly been brought to light by scholars and field actors during the past decade. As a result, the issue gained political traction, and programs have been designed to reduce it. In canton Geneva, Switzerland, a town’s social services have recently launched two programs to enhance access to social rights. In this paper, we explore, notably through the lens of the deservingness literature, the variety of ways in which sub-groups of the population interact with the local authorities’ commitment to tackle non-take-up. Based on 45 semi-structured interviews with recipients, social workers and managers of these municipal programs, as well as stakeholders at cantonal level, we assess how the design, implementation and reception of the programs by their targeted population influence their unequal outcome. Our results show how the perception of various sub-groups of the population as more or less deserving informs how social policy is designed at macro level; implemented by state administration at federal and cantonal level and mediated by action against non-take-up at municipal level; and received by beneficiaries at micro level. By reproducing the deservingness rationale identified in the literature, local action against non-take-up tends to fuel a cumulative (dis-)advantage dynamic, and therefore reinforce or reproduce dynamics of inequality between sub-groups of the population whose starting point in terms of access to social rights does not seem to differ significantly.https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/2566-7742-2024-2-134
spellingShingle Max Lovey
Jean-Michel Bonvin
Who deserves to access their rights? Inequality in the action against non-take-up
Culture, Practice & Europeanization
title Who deserves to access their rights? Inequality in the action against non-take-up
title_full Who deserves to access their rights? Inequality in the action against non-take-up
title_fullStr Who deserves to access their rights? Inequality in the action against non-take-up
title_full_unstemmed Who deserves to access their rights? Inequality in the action against non-take-up
title_short Who deserves to access their rights? Inequality in the action against non-take-up
title_sort who deserves to access their rights inequality in the action against non take up
url https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/2566-7742-2024-2-134
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