Eurofound study on non-take up of social benefits published

Many people do not receive the social benefits to which they are entitled. Benefit systems differ considerably among EU Member States, but such ‘non-take-up’ (or ‘non-give-out’) seems to be common across the EU. This study investigates the extent of non-take-up and seeks to explain it. It further explores how non-take-up can be addressed, presenting case studies from 10 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Romania, Slovakia and the UK. The focus is on non-take-up of monetary social benefits that support people in vulnerable situations, including minimum income, housing, health, old-age, heating, child, unemployment, disability and care benefits. The study takes the magnitude and entitlement criteria of the benefits as a given, determined by governments. Eftheia and HIVA KULeuven contributed to this report by developing the case studies for Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Romania and the UK. The Eurofound study on non-take-up of social benefits can be found here.