Realizing Rights: Multi-level Approach to Non-take-up of Means-tested Benefits (Hardback)

This volume deals with non-take-up, the phenomenon whereby people do not receive the benefits to which they are entitled. The book offers a discussion of all the relevant concepts and indicators, a critical analysis of measurement problems and rates, and an international review of non-take-up figures. It contains a critical discussion of theories and models on the causes of non-take-up, resulting in the presentation of models which express the central idea that non-take-up is a multi-level problem. That is, factors influencing non-take-up are not confined to eligible people's cognitions, motivations and behaviour, but are present at the levels of scheme structure and administration too. An application of the multi-level approach in the analyses of data from a number of surveys carried out in two major Dutch cities shows how policy makers and administrators are responsible for the problem, and not only clients. The book sets out new directions for research as well as for the design and implementation of selective social policies.