Improving benefit systems and employment services for jobseekers with mental ill-health

The ability of benefit systems to identify clients’ mental illness is crucial to helping them back into the labour market quickly and sustainably. Mental ill-health is highly prevalent not only among disability benefit recipients, but also among unemployment and social assistance recipients. Across OECD countries, between one-third and one-half of all benefit recipients suffer from mental ill-health. Activation policies can assure fast return to work for those people and prevent high caseloads in the disability benefit scheme.