(Cost)effectiveness of reintegration services for Dutch jobseekers on unemployment benefits (2008-2011)

A large part of the reintegration services for jobseekers who started to collect unemployment insurance benefits (WW) between 1 April 2008 and 1 October 2010 has made positive and significant contributions to the return to work. That particularly applies to the services provided by the Dutch unemployment insurance administration UWV itself and, to a lesser extent, to the external reintegration services procured through the WW reintegration budget. If the costs of the services used are compared with the benefits in terms of a reduction in the length of time unemployment benefits are paid for, then only UWV’s own reintegration services have been cost-effective.

These are the main conclusions from a study on the added value of reintegration services for people on unemployment benefit insurance (WW) in the Netherlands between April 2008 and October 2010. The added value or net effectiveness of reintegration services is determined by making a comparison between a treatment group of jobseekers that received reintegration services and a control group of jobseekers that had not received those services. Differences in composition between the treatment and control groups, differences in economic circumstances in which unemployed jobseekers look for work and differences in the moment of treatment (and becoming effective) are controlled for by making use of duration analysis.