Anne Gielen, Professor of Labour Economics and Policy at Erasmus School of Economics, was interviewed for an FD article. Here, she and two others were asked what her view on inequality was.
Gielen conducted research on the reduction of disability benefits (WAO) in 1993, after which many WAO recipients returned to work. This eventually produced many positive results in the lives of themselves and their descendants. Partly because of this research, it became clear how poverty and inequality can affect generations. For instance, poorer parents often do not have money for tutoring for their children, which in turn puts them at a disadvantage compared to children from rich families. Non-working parents are also often less able to help in the application process. Gielen calls it a complex issue, for which, unfortunately, she too does not yet have the right solutions.
Inequality in itself is not a bad thing, Gielen believes. That way, everyone makes their own choices, there is no need to worry about that. Opportunity inequality, on the other hand, is a problem. There, family circumstances appear to be very important. Government intervention should help, but this in turn can also impact people's behaviour and lead to behavioural changes. Financial incentives cannot solve everything, for now it is especially important to identify the causes of poverty and inequality, but the researchers are not that far yet.
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You can download the full article from het Financieele Dagblad, 12 April 2024, above.