Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Employment is a key determinant for health. People with chronic illness and low education (the target group) may experience problems in the labour market. Furthermore health-related unemployment has significant economic costs to society. Reduced employment protection while maintaining economic security for the individual, referred to as 'flexicurity' has been proposed as a way to increase employment overall. We aimed to determine which, if any, dimensions of 'flexicurity' policies helped to keep the target group employed or, if not working, to facilitate their entry into work. We used a mixed-methods approach - comparative case analysis, labour market policy indicators and individual survey data -triangulating multiple data sources to compare the development of labour market policies and employment rates in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom from 1990 to 2010. These cases represent different combinations of employment protection and economic security. Employment rates in all countries were much lower in the target group than for other groups over the study period and economic security policies in all countries were eroding. However employment rates were higher in Sweden than in Denmark with the traditional model of 'flexicurity'. Reducing employment protection legislation may help those in the target group re-enter employment but could prevent them from maintaining employment. Active labour market policies (ALMPs) should be targeted towards specific groups to achieve specific outcomes. Traditional models of 'flexicurity' may not be effective in increasing employment for the target group. Policies should address this vulnerable group. Future research could develop a typology of ALMPs to better understand which types are best suited for the target group. Moreover, economic security policies for those unable to earn their living from work should be adequate and not add economic strain to the burden of illness.