There has been a rapidly growing number of studies of the geographical aspects of happiness and well-being. Many of these studies have been highlighting the role of space and place and of individual and spatial contextual determinants of happiness. However, most of the studies to date do not explicitly …

Substantial and continuous shifts in skills demands urge us to rethink education, labour market and reintegration policies and practices. In this article, we argue for a more skills based approach to (re)integration. This skills based (re)integration practice is based more on up-to-date, complete and …

This paper advances the case for a contextualized perspective on client impact of obligatory participation in welfare to work as a form of conditional welfare. We argue that at least three types of potentially variable characteristics of programmes as they are actually implemented matter for understanding …

The shift from ‘passive’ to ‘activating’ welfare states has made labour market participation of citizens a core objective of contemporary active social policies. This shift is reflected in the nature of various social services for vulnerable groups and, by consequence, the roles and responsibilities …

This small exploratory study aims to reveal the perceptions of female participants in mandatory volunteering programmes and to formulate directions for further research. We analyse how in Rotterdam the transition from labour market re-integration policies to a mandatory reciprocity approach is viewed …

Debates about the new welfare, and the new social policies that go (or should go) with it, share an emphasis on risk-prevention strategies and pluralistic risk management. Focusing specifically on the risk of unemployment, this article discusses the case for so-called preventive worker-directed active …

Careers work is a very political business. Since the early 1990s, successive governments in England and the Netherlands have persistently challenged those working in the careers sector to demonstrate the educational, social and economic value and impact of their work. In this context, the marketisation …

An increasing number of Turkish Dutch, the Netherlands’ largest ethnic minority group, are beginning to return to their country of origin, taking with them the education and skills they have acquired abroad, as the Netherlands faces challenges from economic difficulties and socio-political tensions. At …