Policy implications

Viewing the incentives from CA point-of-view, these normative expectations leaning to self-motivation are directed to aspirations of future wellbeing while sacrificing current wellbeing. While it could be seen as a suitable individual strategy were it to be initiated by individual choice, pressure caused by external sources is more questionable. By introducing a negative incentive by means of sanctions and a low subsistence level, the ALMPs attempt to direct the unemployed towards faster labor market integration. The time pressure that young people are experiencing diminishes their autonomy as the capability for handling time is considered as an important aspect in the act of choosing (Comim 2003). This aspect will be covered more in detail in the next chapter, as it is associated with the individuals' capability to aspire. Similarly, autonomy was reduced by the fact that the low benefits for many of the interviewees were reported as not being sufficient for daily living and therefore even many of the adult participants had to be supported by their parents.

One of the conclusions drawn from the time pressure and its physical and emotional consequences on the individual is that a part of this suffering is due to the way in which labor market policies have been designed and implemented.

Currently, the common discourses on unemployment tend to argue for the direct link between not having a job and ill-being without taking into consideration the other aspects that come along with the experience. The 'scarring effect' points to the European policy discourses focusing on the psycho-social perspective that provides evidence of the damaging impact of unemployment. The problem is, however, that being unemployed does not only mean not having a job but it brings along a wider array of factors that influence the individual's wellbeing. The factors related to the fact of not having a job such as shame caused by the stigma of being unemployed, however, have been covered by several studies (e.g. Rantakeisu et al. 1999, Strandh et al. 2011). These studies effectively show the mediating effect of shame between unemployment and ill-being and thus imply that much of the distress that the unemployed experience is related to societal meanings, stereotypes and expectations towards the unemployed.

However, these stigmatizing effects are particularly related to the policies that attempt to fight unemployment and this needs to be scrutinized further and more profoundly.

The pressure experienced by the young people and their anxieties are, indeed, related to common stereotypes and stigmas of unemployed people that the labor market policies reproduce by means of activation. The point here is that the societal meanings are reproduced in discourses that have the power to induce emotional and psychological consequences among the subjects of intervention.

In other words, while the fact of being unemployed undoubtedly has an effect on people, this effect has been exaggerated. This is because other factors such as the common negative images created upon unemployed people and the following behavioral pressures have an impact on the wellbeing of people

subject to such prejudices. The studies promoting the mere fact of not being in employment as a cause for ill-being reproduce these prejudices while providing a legitimization for policy measures aimed at supply side interventions at the expense of investing in demand-side measures.

The self-responsibilization is extended to the moral requirement of internal will and the wish to be active in addition to mere participation. Lähteenmaa (2013) refers to these expectations as moral panic, evident in the Finnish discourses of unemployment. Such discourses introduce unemployment as a threat bringing forward the negative public attitudes towards such a phenomenon. These attitudes give a normative flavor to the issue by the expectation that the young people in particular should not want to be unemployed. Many of the young people have adopted the ethos of activity but those who have not are framed by sanctions for the purpose of promoting it among these individuals as well. The modality of 'devoir' (have to) is supporting this aim (Lähteenmaa 2013).

7.8 Conclusions

Within the present chapter, the problematic aspect of activation has been presented mainly in the light of discourses presented by the individuals representing the targets of ALMPs. The first illustration of activation logic reproduces the SeMo as a simulation of a work place mainly in the private sector with its hierarchical structure that comprises workers and employers. The difference, however, when compared to a normal work place is a general inclination towards educational strategies aiming at the identification of and corrective intervention against problematic aspects of participants' behavior and attitudes. The problematic participant, hence, becomes a subject of corrective and evaluative processes in the institution. Such interventions are based on a contractual agreement between the service provider and the cantonal authorities on one hand, and the participants and the service provider on the other. The implication of the contractual regime is the simultaneous creation of an active autonomous and motivated client, and externally controlled, activated individual.

The active client knows her duties and takes responsibility by bringing forward high work morals that introduce an orientation towards meritocracy: hard working and motivated individuals deserve to succeed in the labor markets.

The same logic promotes individual responsibility regarding employment and labor market integration that is looked at from the capability approach – perspective. The strong focus on the individual and her employability indicates a human capital approach that together with the time pressure to which the young people are exposed affect the young people's current wellbeing and capabilities.

Here, the contractual relationship, while introducing individual responsibility, lacks the sufficient provision of means to fulfill such expectations. Clienthood leaning on the active self-responsible, self-inflicted motivation implies social policies focusing on individual employability. While there are implications for social responsibility in increasing one's employability, the ultimate object of intervention whether by labor market measures or self-motivation is the individual. Such policies are particularly problematic when the subjects of intervention are the most precarious populations such as young unemployed people without qualifications. Employability in itself is not a problematic issue

when referring to the investment in individuals' skills and qualities in order to increase their chances of being integrated into the labor market. It becomes problematic when connected to the extreme human capital conception to the point of leading to absolute individual responsibility at the expense of duties assigned to society to provide the minimum prerequisites for fulfilling such responsibilities.

The employability so formulated reinforces moral and normative conceptions of the 'good client' who participates in the societal aims for fast and durable integration form her part and adopts the work ethics in their aspirations. Such conceptions promote an autonomous and motivated individual taking responsibilities for her employability to the point of meritocratic understanding of the labor market structure. Discourses on deservingness present an image of a lazy, unmotivated welfare recipient whose unemployment is explained by individual attitudes implying the lack of professional orientation and maladjusted behavior. On the other hand, the perception holds that the internally induced welfare client sooner or later will find a job provided that she invests in job search activities and has thus deserved a good life.

Hence, the human capital perspective inherent in the social policies concerning young people represents an approach diverging from the capability-oriented welfare model. According to Dean et al. (2005) a managerialist approach setting economic incentives can enhance individual's functionings while guaranteeing capabilities and freedom to choose is less evident. The solution suggested by the authors would be a 'capability state' where the welfare subject would be guaranteed autonomy through 'a collective politics of capabilities' (Dean et al.

2005: 11). The actual level of capabilities and the capability for voice in particular would then determine the provision of resources to the recipient. In a state promoting the actual freedom and capabilities of the citizens, then, the effects on wellbeing of the constant time pressure originating from the employment aims of fast integration would better be taken into account. In addition, the human capital investment logic would be complemented with capability aspects promoting the importance of having enough time and the freedom from pressure in a sensitive time period of youth in transition from school to work. These issues will be covered more profoundly in the next chapter that establishes the link between passive and active in the welfare discourses.