The Politics of Supplementing Wages: Accounting for In-Work Benefit Reforms in the United Kingdom, France and Spain

In-Work Benefits (IWBs) are a specific type of social benefit that are conditional upon employment, and act to increase the net wages of the low paid. IWBs can include (i) tax credits, (ii) earnings disregards, and (iii) exemptions from taxes and social security contributions. Theory and Hypothesis It is posited here that if a key purpose of welfare state formation is to provide for a certain level of economic security for wage earners, and to set the acceptable degree of 'commodification' of labour in a given society, then these policy drivers may offer a useful starting point to analyse the determinants of IWB implementation. The research will test the thesis of Guy Standing, who argues that IWBs are part of a package of policies aimed at the 'recommodification' of labour, i.e. to increase the proportion of a wage earner's 'social income' gained from money wages, while decreasing the proportions gained from state or enterprise benefits. The hypothesis under investigation is therefore the proposition that: the implementation of IWBs is motivated by the objective of increasing dependence on employment as a source of economic security. To test this hypothesis, a set of three 'sufficient and necessary conditions' are developed. In order for the above hypothesis to hold, it is posited here that demonstrable evidence of the following conditions should be present in any given case: (i) the identification by decision-makers of (low) levels of employment/labour market attachment as a principle political problem, to which IWBs offer part of the solution; (ii) the implementation of contemporary policy reforms explicitly linked by decision-makers to IWBs which increase the dependence of wage earners on the market as a source of economic security; (iii) the formal of support of employers and acquiescence of organised labour and representatives of low income workers to IWBs. The absence or reversal of these conditions meanwhile would logically undermine this hypothesis and advance an alternative explanation. Methodology & Cases To test this hypothesis, the research seeks to establish whether each of the 'necessary and sufficient' conditions above are fulfilled. In order to test the hypothesis, it is posited that a Comparative Qualitative Analysis (QCA) approach is best suited to a study of this nature. While such a comparative study cannot on its own fully 'prove' a general theoretical claim, it can 'provide comparativists another piece to work into a much larger puzzle'. The first research stage will test for the presence of conditions (i) and (iii) in each case. As an initial phase, a discourse analysis of political debate, policy papers and statements of the main political parties will be conducted of the period prior to the introduction of the key IWB reforms. A second stage will investigate the presence of condition (ii) of the hypothesis. The findings will be summarised in structured tables. As a third stage, the study will seek to 'control' for the causal conditions behind the implementation of IWBs. In summary, the research will test for the presence of the causal conditions across each case which can be inferred as driving the major IWB reforms identified. Contribution The study seeks to fill an important knowledge gap in the contemporary social policy literature regarding the causal conditions behind the implementation of IWBs in diverse European welfare regimes. Second, it is suggested that understanding the determinants behind such policies and their link to wider patters of reform can provide greater insight into contemporary processes of welfare state change. More broadly, the study can contribute to the collective academic effort of mapping the emerging policy packages interacting with and determining both the economic security of wage earners, and the incidence of 'new employment risks', in post-industrial European societies.