Abstract
Administrative burden research claims that target group members are likely to experience learning, compliance, and psychological costs when interacting with government programs. We argue that the mere anticipation of such interactions may translate into experiences of administrative burden. Utilizing a large-scale dataset with responses from 2276 Danish social benefit recipients, we estimate how proximity to upcoming compulsory meetings with street-level bureaucrats—a common condition in means-tested benefit programs—affect the recipients’ experiences of burdens. We find that the shorter the time to future meetings, the more benefit recipients experience stress and stigma, but the less they experience learning costs. The findings suggest that welfare recipient experiences of burden are likely to fluctuate over time and that psychological costs increase as recipients have to make mental and practical preparations for complying with government demands.
Abstract (Danish)
Forskning har vist, at borgere ofte oplever administrative byrder i form af lærings- efterlevelses- og psykologiske omkostninger i forbindelse med, at de forsøger at efterleve krav, som er en forudsætning for at modtage offentlige ydelser. På baggrund af svar fra 2276 danske kontanthjælpsmodtagere undersøger vi, hvordan fremtidige obligatoriske møder med sagsbehandlere påvirker kontanthjælpsmodtagernes oplevelse af administrative byrder. Vi finder, at jo tættere kontanthjælpsmodtagerne kommer datoen for et skemasat møde, jo mere oplever de psykologiske omkostninger i form af stress og stigma, men jo mindre er deres læringsomkostninger. Resultaterne viser, at oplevelser af byrder ikke er konstante, men ændrer sig over tid, og at de psykologiske omkostninger stiger i takt med, at folk forbereder sig praktisk og mentalt for at leve op til krav, som er obligatoriske for at kunne modtager offentlige ydelser.