Do Generous Welfare Benefits Lead To High Unemployment? (Long Version)

(This was originally written as a college essay. For this reason it is 3,000 words long and contains a lot of economics terms references. It is meant as a help for anyone who wants an in-depth study of the topic with supporting facts and figures. For a short version in plain English see here. The essay was marked the best in my class of 80 students. It won the Undergraduate Award 2012 in Economics along with someone from Yale. I’m not trying to boast but I’m over the moon.) Abstract This paper discusses the conventional wisdom that unemployment benefits create a disincentive to work, the so-called “welfare trap”. It examines if higher benefit levels or longer benefit durations lead to higher unemployment … Continue reading “Do Generous Welfare Benefits Lead To High Unemployment? (Long Version)”

September 12, 2012EconomicsBenefits, Disincentive To Work, Dole, Economics, Incentive, Lazy, Motivated, Social Welfare, Undergraduate Award, Unemployment, Welfare, Welfare Trap, Winner Leave a comment