ABSTRACT
"Social Minima and Wage Labor: Europe Viewed From Below" is the title of a collective research project conducted between 1998 and 2001 in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Belgium. This chapter presents the results of research on the effects of tax-credit systems and in-work benefits on the social situation of individuals and on the structure of the labor market. It focuses on the evidence of Speenhamland effects in the labor market policies of three European countries that have been increasingly relying on in-work benefits, including the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium. The United Kingdom was one of the first countries to introduce workfare into its social security system. Although workfare policies are barely present in France, there is a link between the growth of social-aid oriented and fiscally funded benefits and the contractualization of social rights. The chapter concludes with a discussion of alternative policies that are needed to avoid Speenhamland perverse effect.
