Welfare conditionality within the social security system is largely ineffective and in some cases pushes people into poverty and crime, according to a major new study.
Welfare conditionality links eligibility for welfare benefits and services to responsibilities or particular patterns of behaviour, under threat of sanction for non-compliance. It has been a key element of welfare state reform in many countries since the mid-1990s.
Supporters say the use of sanctions and support is an effective way of weaning people off benefits and into paid work, or addressing antisocial behaviour.