Welfare Activation and Youth Crime

Arbeitspapier

We evaluate the impact on youth crime of a welfare reform that tightened activation requirements for social assistance clients. The evaluation strategy exploits administrative individual data in combination with geographically differentiated implementation of the reform. We find that the reform reduced crime among teenage boys from economically disadvantaged families. Stronger reform effects on weekday versus weekend crime, reduced school dropout, and favorable long-run outcomes in terms of crime and educational attainment, point to both incapacitation and human capital accumulation as key mechanisms. Despite lowered social assistance take-up we uncover no indication that loss of income support pushed youth into crime.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 11719

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Social Security and Public Pensions ; Education: Other ; Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs ; Demographic Economics: Public Policy
• Subject: social assistance ; youth crime ; activation

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Bratsberg, Bernt ; Hernaes, Øystein ; Markussen, Simen ; Raaum, Oddbjørn ; Røed, Knut
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/185179
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET