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Unemployment and conditional welfare: Exclusion and belonging in immigrant women's discourse on being long‐term dependent on social assistance
Author(s) -
Bergnehr Disa
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 1369-6866
DOI - 10.1111/ijsw.12158
Subject(s) - social exclusion , unemployment , entitlement (fair division) , welfare , immigration , agency (philosophy) , social welfare , feeling , welfare dependency , demographic economics , labour economics , sociology , economics , social psychology , political science , psychology , economic growth , law , market economy , social science , mathematical economics
Long‐term unemployment with dependency on social assistance in S weden has increased and is particularly high among foreign‐born persons. The present study explored immigrant recipients' experiences of being welfare reliant. S wedish‐ I raqi women's construction of exclusion and belonging in relation to policies and welfare regulations was scrutinised. The women referred to unemployment with frustration, expressing that it renders dependence on social welfare and enforces adherence to the stipulations of the social services. The individual's mobility and agency are restricted and concerted efforts to obtain employment are futile, which increase the sense of exclusion. However, the entitlement to social assistance also engenders feelings of belonging, of being connected to and cared for by the new country. More research is needed to examine the role that social assistance regulations play in forming feelings of belonging and exclusion. It appears essential that political initiatives be taken to reverse the trend of high unemployment among foreign‐born persons.