Suchergebnisse

We measure the distributional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic using newly released population register data in Sweden. Monthly earnings inequality increased during the pandemic, and the key driver is income losses among low-paid individuals while middle- and high-income earners were almost unaffected. The pandemic had a larger negative impact on private-sector workers and on women. Using data on individual take-up of government COVID-19 support, we show that policy significantly dampened the inequality increase, but did not fully offset it. Annual total market income inequality, which also includes capital income and taxable transfers, shows similar patterns of increasing inequality during the pandemic.

We measure the distributional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic using newly released population register data in Sweden. Monthly earnings inequality increased during the pandemic, and the key driver is income losses among low-paid individuals while middle- and high-income earners were almost unaffected. The pandemic had a larger negative impact on private-sector workers and on women. Using data on individual take-up of government COVID-19 support, we show that policy significantly dampened the inequality increase, but did not fully offset it. Annual total market income inequality, which also includes capital income and taxable transfers, shows similar patterns of increasing inequality during the pandemic.

We measure the distributional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic using newly released population register data in Sweden. Monthly earnings inequality increased during the pandemic, and the key driver is income losses among low-paid individuals while middle- and high-income earners were almost unaffected. The pandemic had a larger negative impact on private-sector workers and on women. Using data on individual take-up of government COVID-19 support, we show that policy significantly dampened the inequality increase, but did not fully offset it. Annual total market income inequality, which also includes capital income and taxable transfers, shows similar patterns of increasing inequality during the pandemic.

In many countries, a non-negligible percentage of the working-age population has impairments that also entail reduced work capacity, and disability retirement is increasing. Despite this, studies on the effects of policies aimed at enhancing the labour market inclusion among people with disabilities, such as targeted wage subsidies, are surprisingly few. In an attempt to fill this gap, we have studied how wage subsidies affect future labour market outcomes for jobseekers with disabilities, in terms of employment and disability retirement. By using inverse probability weighting applied to rich Swedish register data, we contrast participants in the wage subsidy program to observably similar non-participants during a 19-year period. We find that participation was associated with both positive and negative labour market outcomes. On the negative side, participants were less likely to have unsubsidised employment. On the positive side, leaving the labour market through the disability insurance program was somewhat less common among participants. Moreover, using a broader employment measure including subsidised jobs, the participants were found to be employed to a larger extent, which could be interpreted either as locking-in effects or as fostering labour market inclusion.

To provide disabled people with the same opportunities to participate in working life as everyone else, certain measures, such as wage subsidies, compensating for a reduced work capacity, might be necessary. To ascertain that these measures are limited to the most needy a system that identifies the target group is required. The Swedish Public Employment Service's (PES') classification of occupational disability constitutes such a system. In this study we document how jobseekers' demographic characteristics, socioeconomic position, and health-related conditions are associated with being classified as occupationally disabled by the PES, and how this classification might be distorted by unintended incentive mechanisms. Our empirical analyses show that both previous health conditions and previous socioeconomic disadvantages were associated with a higher likelihood of being classified as occupationally disabled. To what extent these jobseekers actually had impairments that entailed reduced work capacity cannot be concluded from the available data, but our results indicate that also the goals set by the government may have influenced how the PES classified jobseekers.

To provide disabled people with the same opportunities to participate in working life as everyone else, certain measures, such as wage subsidies, compensating for a reduced work capacity, might be necessary. To ascertain that these measures are limited to the most needy a system that identifies the target group is required. The Swedish Public Employment Service's (PES') classification of occupational disability constitutes such a system. In this study we document how jobseekers' demographic characteristics, socioeconomic position, and health-related conditions are associated with being classified as occupationally disabled by the PES, and how this classification might be distorted by unintended incentive mechanisms. Our empirical analyses show that both previous health conditions and previous socioeconomic disadvantages were associated with a higher likelihood of being classified as occupationally disabled. To what extent these jobseekers actually had impairments that entailed reduced work capacity cannot be concluded from the available data, but our results indicate that also the goals set by the government may have influenced how the PES classified jobseekers.