TY - JOUR
T1 - The Illiberalism of Behavioural Conditionality
T2 - A Critique of Australia's 'No Jab, No Pay' Policy
AU - Curchin, Katherine
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Cambridge University Press 2019.
PY - 2019/10/1
Y1 - 2019/10/1
N2 - Internationally the payment of welfare benefits is increasingly being made conditional on recipients' behaviour. Behavioural conditions and the payments to which they apply are diversifying. This article aims to contribute to the debate among scholars and policymakers over the ethics of welfare conditionality. While other assessments of the ethics of welfare conditionality have focused on the potential harm caused to vulnerable welfare recipients, this paper develops the argument that welfare conditionality is illiberal. Drawing on findings from behavioural science, it argues that relying on extrinsic motivation in the form of financial incentives is a less desirable approach to behavioural change than bolstering intrinsic motivation. The argument is illustrated with the case of the Australian 'No Jab, No Pay' policy, under which family payments and childcare subsidies are denied to parents whose children are not fully immunised. As behavioural conditions and the payments to which they are applied diversify, the cumulative effects of these conditions pose an underappreciated threat to citizens' autonomy.
AB - Internationally the payment of welfare benefits is increasingly being made conditional on recipients' behaviour. Behavioural conditions and the payments to which they apply are diversifying. This article aims to contribute to the debate among scholars and policymakers over the ethics of welfare conditionality. While other assessments of the ethics of welfare conditionality have focused on the potential harm caused to vulnerable welfare recipients, this paper develops the argument that welfare conditionality is illiberal. Drawing on findings from behavioural science, it argues that relying on extrinsic motivation in the form of financial incentives is a less desirable approach to behavioural change than bolstering intrinsic motivation. The argument is illustrated with the case of the Australian 'No Jab, No Pay' policy, under which family payments and childcare subsidies are denied to parents whose children are not fully immunised. As behavioural conditions and the payments to which they are applied diversify, the cumulative effects of these conditions pose an underappreciated threat to citizens' autonomy.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060376468&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0047279418000879
DO - 10.1017/S0047279418000879
M3 - Article
SN - 0047-2794
VL - 48
SP - 789
EP - 805
JO - Journal of Social Policy
JF - Journal of Social Policy
IS - 4
ER -