Waiting Longer Before Claiming, and Activating Youth: No Point?

36 Pages Posted: 1 Oct 2016 Last revised: 16 Apr 2023

See all articles by Bart Cockx

Bart Cockx

Ghent University - Department of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); IRES, Université Catholique de Louvain; ROA Maastricht University

Eva Van Belle

Ghent University - Department of Social Economics

Abstract

In Belgium school-leavers are entitled to unemployment benefits after a waiting period and eligible to intensified counselling and training in the Youth Work Plan (YWP) if a job is not found within three months. The length of the waiting period and eligibility to the YWP are sharply determined by two distinct age thresholds. These are exploited to estimate the impact of these policies on the transition rate to employment and on the quality of work. Both policies increase job finding only slightly and insignificantly. The accepted wage is unaffected, but the number of working days falls and, hence, also earnings.

Keywords: youth unemployment, policy evaluation, regression discontinuity design, survival analysis, quality of employment

JEL Classification: J64, J65, J68

Suggested Citation

Cockx, Bart L. W. and Van Belle, Eva, Waiting Longer Before Claiming, and Activating Youth: No Point?. IZA Discussion Paper No. 10221, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2846312 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2846312

Bart L. W. Cockx (Contact Author)

Ghent University - Department of Economics ( email )

Ghent, B-9000
Belgium

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

IRES, Université Catholique de Louvain

Place Montesquieu, 3
Louvain-la-Neuve
Belgium

ROA Maastricht University ( email )

P.O. Box 616
Maastricht, MD6200
Netherlands

Eva Van Belle

Ghent University - Department of Social Economics ( email )

Hoveniersberg 24
Gent, 9000
Belgium

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