På gränsen till fattigvård? : En studie om arbetsmarknadspolitik och socialbidrag

Sammanfattning: This dissertation focuses on changes in labour market policies that were provided for unemployed recipients of social assistance between 1989 and 2002 in Sweden. This change is described as a process where the municipalities gradually take greater responsibility for the labour market policies. This group of unemployed is categorized as a particularly problematic group and has been referred to the municipalities. This takes place without any noticeable legislative change or policy decisions and is contrary to the appropriation directions that the government has given to the Labour Market Board. In this process responsibility has ?trickled? through to the municipalities. The process that is described and analyzed in this dissertation is a process that shows how unemployed recipients of social assistance gradually become a municipal responsibility. This entails amongst other things that the unemployed will continue to live off social assistance. The boundary between the government and the municipalities has changed between 1989 and 2002. Categories of unemployed who are adjudged to have great problems in establishing themselves in the labour market are referred to the municipalities. For those unemployed who are established within the unemployment insurance system and who do not need social assistance, there are no major institutional changes. This is ultimately a question of power. While the labour movement safeguards the interests of the unemployed within the unemployment insurance system the recipients of social assistance have few or none who safeguard their interests. Unemployed recipients of social assistance are referred to the municipal system that still has distinctive features from the poor relief period. They are provided with a labour market policy that differs in several essential aspects from the labour market policies that are part of the Swedish welfare state. They are provided with a labour market policy that is bordering on poor relief.