policy complementarity

VOX EU | The joint provision of active labour market policies and income support can be a powerful solution for improving workers’ perspectives

VOX EU | The joint provision of active labour market policies and income support can be a powerful solution for improving workers’ perspectives

Active labour market policies have the potential to improve workers’ employability, but a key challenge in developing and emerging countries is that without income support to cover their basic needs, many workers simply cannot afford to participate in such policies. This column examines the examples of Uruguay and Mauritius and finds that approaches combining both active labour market policies and income support are more effective in improving the labour market perspectives of vulnerable workers than the same policies implemented in isolation. However, the success of integrated policies clearly depends on design and implementation characteristics.