Non take-up of social welfare benefits among migrants in Switzerland during the Covid-19 pandemic

Meier, Gisela; Mey, Eva; Strohmeier Navarro Smith, Rahel

Publication type:	Conference poster
Type of review:	Peer review (abstract)
Title:	Non take-up of social welfare benefits among migrants in Switzerland during the Covid-19 pandemic
Authors:	Meier, Gisela Mey, Eva Strohmeier Navarro Smith, Rahel
et. al:	No
Conference details:	11th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR): Enhancing and sustaining social inclusion through social work research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 6-8 April 2022
Issue Date:	8-Apr-2022
Language:	German English
Subject (DDC):	305: Groups (age, origine, gender, income) 361: Social work and welfare
Abstract:	Even though the phenomenon of non take-up of social welfare benefits (NTU-SWB) has been a major concern for the field of social work as well as an important topic of research in Switzerland as for the rest of Europe, the experience related to the Covid-19 pandemic has once again demonstrated the high relevance of this topic. The high demand for food distribution schemes that were installed in Zurich and Geneva has shed light on the fact that a non-negligible part of the population experienced significant economic difficulties during that time. As two studies - in which participants in these schemes were interviewed - show, NTU has been a major contributing factor for the increased strain on multiple already vulnerable groups, particularly migrants. Against this background, and based on the aforementioned survey from Zurich, we focus on two research questions: Firstly, which are the main causes for NTU, especially for migrants and secondly, what are the individual consequences of NTU? One of our key results is that the state contributes to an increasing precarization of foreigners. In fact, the latter are reluctant to request social welfare support, given that this could jeopardize their residence permit. Hence, they are often employed in precarious jobs, formally or informally, and thus lost all or a significant part of their income during the pandemic. We conclude that there is a need for intensified public debate on NTU. In addition, we believe it would be beneficial to install a reporting system on NTU and to develop standardized approaches to handling cases of NTU. However, this also raises the ethical question whether there is a right to be in a (willingly chosen) situation of NTU.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/24918
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	Social Work
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Diversity and Social Integration (IVGT)
Published as part of the ZHAW project:	Nicht-Bezug von Sozialhilfe in der Migrationsbevölkerung
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Soziale Arbeit

Files in This Item:

There are no files associated with this item.

Show full item record

Meier, G., Mey, E., & Strohmeier Navarro Smith, R. (2022, April 8). Non take-up of social welfare benefits among migrants in Switzerland during the Covid-19 pandemic. 11th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR): Enhancing and sustaining social inclusion through social work research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 6-8 April 2022.

Meier, G., Mey, E. and Strohmeier Navarro Smith, R. (2022) ‘Non take-up of social welfare benefits among migrants in Switzerland during the Covid-19 pandemic’, in 11th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR): Enhancing and sustaining social inclusion through social work research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 6-8 April 2022.

G. Meier, E. Mey, and R. Strohmeier Navarro Smith, “Non take-up of social welfare benefits among migrants in Switzerland during the Covid-19 pandemic,” in 11th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR): Enhancing and sustaining social inclusion through social work research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 6-8 April 2022, Apr. 2022.

MEIER, Gisela, Eva MEY und Rahel STROHMEIER NAVARRO SMITH, 2022. Non take-up of social welfare benefits among migrants in Switzerland during the Covid-19 pandemic. In: 11th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR): Enhancing and sustaining social inclusion through social work research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 6-8 April 2022. Conference poster. 8 April 2022

Meier, Gisela, Eva Mey, and Rahel Strohmeier Navarro Smith. 2022. “Non take-up of social welfare benefits among migrants in Switzerland during the Covid-19 pandemic.” Conference poster. In 11th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR): Enhancing and sustaining social inclusion through social work research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 6-8 April 2022.

Meier, Gisela, et al. “Non take-up of social welfare benefits among migrants in Switzerland during the Covid-19 pandemic.” 11th European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR): Enhancing and sustaining social inclusion through social work research, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 6-8 April 2022, 2022.