EU migration, out-of-work benefits and reciprocity: are member states justified in restricting access to welfare rights?

  • This article examines whether restrictions on access to welfare rights for EU immigrants are justifiable on grounds of reciprocity. Recently political theorists have supported some robust restrictions on the basis of fairness. They argue that if EU immigrants do not immediately contribute sufficiently to the provision of basic collective goods in the host state, restrictions on their access to the welfare state are justified. I argue that these accounts of the principle of reciprocity rely on an ambiguous conception of contribution that cannot deliver the restrictions it advocates. Several strategies open to those advocating reciprocity-based restrictions are considered and found wanting. This article defends that verdict from a number of objections.

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Author:Dimitrios Efthymiou
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-622148
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/1474885118825360
ISSN:1741-2730
Parent Title (English):European journal of political theory
Publisher:Sage
Place of publication:London [u.a.]
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2019/02/04
Date of first Publication:2019/02/04
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2022/01/11
Tag:Brexit; EU migration; European Union; migration; out-of-work benefits; reciprocity; social justice; social rights; welfare rights; welfare state
Volume:20
Issue:3
Page Number:21
First Page:547
Last Page:567
Note:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by a research fellowship at Goethe University Frankfurt’s Centre for Advanced Studies ‘Justitia Amplificata’ funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Note:
Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.
This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.
HeBIS-PPN:491315791
Institutes:Gesellschaftswissenschaften
Dewey Decimal Classification:3 Sozialwissenschaften / 32 Politikwissenschaft / 320 Politikwissenschaft
3 Sozialwissenschaften / 34 Recht / 340 Recht
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoDeutsches Urheberrecht

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