Active labour market policies (ALMP) are an important instrument in the toolbox of modern welfare states, yet comparative research typically relies on aggregate spending measures that obscure how resources are distributed across target groups. This paper addresses this limitation by developing a new method to disaggregate ALMP expenditure by age group (15–24 and 25+) and gender, drawing on measure-level participant data for EU countries and Norway from 1998 to 2023.
Using descriptive evidence, the paper by Leonard Geyer from our partner Europe Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research documents substantial cross-national variation in the relative generosity of ALMP spending across age groups and between men and women, demonstrating that total ALMP expenditure is a poor proxy for the distribution of policy effort. These patterns challenge established assumptions in the comparative ALMP literature while helping to explain previously unresolved findings, particularly regarding the human-capital orientation of ALMP. The new data open up promising avenues for research on policy targeting, programme evaluation, and the political economy of youth-centred welfare regimes.
Here is the data used and the syntax for STATA to process it.