Simultaneous use of governmental and municipal welfare benefits

This report provides a descriptive overview of the scope of simultaneous use between social assistance, rehabilitation benefit, disability benefit, qualification benefit and introduction benefit, as well as differences in simultaneous use within groups with different demographic characteristics. Simultaneous use is defined as the simultaneous receipt of more than one welfare benefit. There is little prior knowledge on the simultaneous use of different benefits. The report can therefore serve as a springboard for more thorough analysis in order to understand the mechanisms of simultaneous use of different benefits.

Simultaneous use of social assistance among recipients of rehabilitation benefit, disability benefit, qualification benefit and introduction benefit

Social assistance is the most flexible benefit with regard to simultaneous use because it is a subsidiary benefit aimed at ensuring that basic financial needs are met when no other support is available. The report shows that the share of simultaneous use of social assistance is significantly higher among recipients of qualification benefit and introduction benefit than among recipients of disability benefit and rehabilitation benefit. A fundamental difference between these benefits is the amount: recipients of qualification benefit and introduction benefit receive a fixed annual grant, while disability benefit and rehabilitation benefit are based on previous income, and are therefore higher in many cases.

The report also shows that the share of simultaneous use among men is higher than among women, and higher among single people than those who live with their partner. The share of simultaneous use of social assistance decreases with age among recipients of rehabilitation benefit and qualification benefit, while increasing with age among the recipients of the introduction benefit. Among recipients of rehabilitation benefit and disability benefit, the report shows a higher proportion of simultaneous use of social assistance among immigrants with a background from Asia, Africa etc. than among the general population. Among recipients of qualification benefit, however, this only applies to single immigrants with children. The results, however, show no difference between recipients who live in municipalities with a large or small population. Among recipients of rehabilitation benefit, qualification benefit and disability benefit, the share of simultaneous use decreases in line with the level of education. Recipients of introduction benefit whose highest level of education is upper secondary have a slightly lower share of simultaneous use than recipients with either a lower or higher education.

Simultaneous use of rehabilitation benefit among recipients of graded disability benefit

Recipients of graded disability benefit who also receive rehabilitation benefit differ from those who have simultaneous use of social assistance. Persons who receive both graded disability benefit and rehabilitation benefit are considered to be partially incapacitated. They are also regarded as having a partially impaired capacity to work to the degree that they are unable to secure or retain gainful employment. Assistance is therefore given to this group in the form of back to work initiatives, medical treatment or other help from NAV.

The report shows that the share of simultaneous use of graded disability benefit and rehabilitation benefit is higher among women than men, and that the share decreases with age. The share of simultaneous use among single people with children is markedly higher than for recipients with other family compositions. There is also a higher proportion of simultaneous use among immigrants with a background from Asia, Africa etc. than among the general population. The results show no difference in simultaneous use among recipients with different levels of education. Finally, the results show that the larger the population in the municipality, the higher the share of simultaneous use.