Jobseeker’s Benefit recipients get back into workforce faster than those on Jobseeker’s Allowance

A study shows that men on Jobseeker’s Benefit are much more likely to be back in the workplace within 12 months than if they are receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance.

The study by the Economic and Social Research Institute also suggested that Irish men are less likely to have secured a job within 12 months of becoming unemployed compared to non-Irish men. Factors such as marital status and spousal income could also be factors in re-entering the labour market.

The report, Predicting the Probability of Long-Term Unemployment in Ireland Using Administrative Data, is part of the ESRI’s survey and statistical report series.

Using the Department of Social Protection’s Jobseekers Longitudinal Dataset, including its Client Services System, and basic Live Register data captured in the Department’s Integrated Short Term Schemes system, the authors built a Labour Market Disadvantage profile based on anonymised data for 63,795 individuals whose claims for jobseeker’s benefit or jobseeker’s allowance were granted for the time period of the report.

According to the report: “Males in receipt of jobseeker’s benefit were 27% more likely to have exited to the labour market at 12 months relative to those in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance.”

The latter payment is means-tested, with payments ranging from €100 to €188 a week.

Jobseeker’s benefit rates are graduated according to earnings in the relevant tax year, two years before the year of claim, with personal rate payments ranging from €80.90 to a maximum of €188.

The research made other findings, including that men within the CSS are almost 13% less likely to regain employment relative to their ISTS-only counterparts.

It also found that men whose spouses earned in excess of €400 per week were 7% more likely to have re-entered the labour market at 12 months and that, apart from ‘other services’, men whose previous occupation was an ‘elementary job’ found it more difficult to get back into the workforce.

It also found that, relative to figures for their Dublin counterparts, men in Galway and Kerry found it more difficult to get back into the labour force.

Findings for women echoed that of men in many ways. Women with spouses earning more than €301 a week were less likely to exit to the labour market at 12 months, and single women — as with single men — were more likely to re-enter the workforce within 12 months.

Overall, approximately 58% of the total sample was still on the Live Register at the 12 month point.

See the report at www.esri.ie