Comparative Welfare State Analysis with Survey-Based Benefit: Recipiency Data: The ‘Dependent Variable Problem’ Revisited

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to the debate on the ‘dependent variable problem’ in comparative welfare state analysis, by focusing on ‘benefit recipiency’ as a hitherto largely neglected type of indicator for understanding cross-national and longitudinal variation between welfare states. The pros and cons of the commonly used indicators of social rights and social expenditure are summarised in order to provide a background for a conceptual and methodological assessment of the added value provided by the inclusion of benefit recipiency data in analysis. In addition, we explore the empirical potentialities of benefit recipiency data. We present and discuss the results of analyses of EU-SILC data for the EU 27 countries, using them to calculate and compare rates of access to a series of benefits among working age populations, as well as the relative amounts of benefits received. Our main conclusion is that benefit recipiency data are a promising source for comparative welfare state analysis. However, like other data sources, they are not without problems, and more work needs to be done to assess their value, relative to more commonly used indicators.