Assuring work motivation and work incentives in the Slovenian benefit system

A critical component of activation policies concerns the incentives that individuals face to become formally employed or to remain in employment. To what extent does social policy in Slovenia strike the right balance between providing income support for vulnerable individuals while ensuring that such individuals are still motivated to seek employment? Do those receiving unemployment or social assistance benefit have strong financial incentives to engage in job search? What are the financial incentives for delaying retirement until the statutory retirement age – and how can individuals exploit the system of unemployment, disability and social assistance benefits to effectively exit the labour market at an earlier age? Finally, how did the 2009 recession and the subsequent austerity measures affect social policy, and what have been the effects of these changes on government expenditures and the number of benefit recipients? These questions are discussed in this chapter.