MOBILE WELFARE
European welfare systems in times of mobility
Understanding the role of welfare systems in destination and origin countries for migration patterns within and towards Europe
MobileWelfare aims to understand the role of welfare systems in destination and origin countries for migration patterns within and towards Europe. Welfare states were developed and associated with the nation state, explaining why provisions remain predominantly linked to nationality and residency. The project moves beyond prior studies on the contested existence of ‘welfare magnets’ and the presumed threat of (low‐skilled) migration to the viability of welfare state benefits. A ‘receiving country bias’ has caused research to neglect the important role of welfare regimes in origin countries on migration aspirations and decisions. Furthermore, little empirical knowledge of the effects of transferability of welfare entitlements on mobility in Europe exists. To fill these gaps and understand how growing levels of mobility intersect with existing welfare regimes across Europe, the project addresses three research questions:
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How and to what extent do welfare systems affect mobility patterns in Europe?
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To what extent and how do perceptions of access to welfare arrangements in origin and destination countries shape migration decisions?
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What role does transferability of welfare accounts play in mobility across Europe?
The project combines macro and micro perspectives, and applies a mixed‐methods approach of innovative analysis of existing statistics and migration data added with new primary data collection via case studies in seven countries. It goes beyond reductionist categorisations of receiving and sending countries by considering all case study countries simultaneously as origins and destinations.
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Duration: 2015-2018
Research objectives
MobileWelfare will generate insights into the role that welfare systems in destination and origin countries play in the formation of migration aspirations and decisions and will bring to public knowledge new avenues for understanding the link between migration and welfare. This research will also help academics and policy makers in understanding the ways in which and under which circumstances migration may (or may not) challenge welfare systems in Europe. Finally it will also provide insights into potential sources of growing inequality between mobile and non‐mobile European populations in terms of access to welfare.
Methodology and approach
The project is arranged into three interrelated work packages that each focus on an important dimension of welfare systems in connection to migration. IMI will lead Work Package II.
Work Package I will explore how current welfare state arrangements may shape mobility patterns in Europe through the analysis of secondary data related to the analysis of migration flows and stock data, as well as social expenditure in countries of origin and destination.
Work Package II aims at understanding the role of perceptions of welfare provisions in the formation of mobility aspirations and in the migration decision making processes through analysing previously collected data and collection of new primary qualitative data.
Work Package III focuses on how access to (e.g. education and health care) and transferability of welfare benefits (e.g. pensions) is perceived and put in practice by mobile citizens within Europe by combining analysis of existing legislation and policy with the analyses of existing survey data on the use of welfare as well as individual perceptions of transferability of support.
In the final year of the project, linkages and intersections between the work packages will be further explored and major implications for theory on European welfare states in times of mobility will be presented both to a scientific and policy audience. Findings will be translated into journal articles for an international audience in high tier journals over the project period.
Funding
MobileWelfare is funded by NORFACE: New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Cooperation in Europe, which is a partnership between 15 research councils designed to increase co-operation in research and research policy in Europe. The project is part of the NORFACE Welfare State Futures programme.
Partners
MobileWelfare is a partnership of four institutions:
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Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, Netherlands
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International Migration Institute, University of Oxford, UK
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Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw, Poland
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Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon, Portugal