Institutional trust and the perceived trustworthiness of the unemployed and attitudes to sanctions on the unemployed

An analysis of ESS Round 8 data

Abstract

The topic of unemployment benefits, especially conditional ones, generates a lot of discussion and is associated with differences in attitudes among both people and countries. This paper aims to analyse the perceptions of the trustworthiness of the unemployed and institutional trust in relation to attitudes to sanctions on the unemployed who refuse to work for certain reasons. Data from the 8th Round of the European Social Survey (2016) focusing on preferences for sanctions on the unemployed who refuse work were analysed. The sample consisted of 9,620 respondents from 22 European countries who answered three selected questions. A two-level regression analysis proved that the perceived trustworthiness of the unemployed, gender, age, education and subjective income were significant predictors of attitudes to sanctions for the unemployed, while institutional trust at the country level moderated this relationship. The perceived untrustworthiness of the unemployed lessened the preference for maintaining benefits in the case of refusal to work; this association is weaker in countries with a higher level of institutional trust. Accordingly, increasing trust at all levels can decrease the pressure on unemployment insurance systems.