Newcomers Navigating the Welfare State

Hanne Vandermeerschen is a research expert in migrant integration at the University of Leuven, HIVA – Research Institute for Work and Society. Elsa Mescoli is a lecturer at the University of Liège, Faculty of Social Sciences, CEDEM – Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies. Jean-Michel Lafleur is a senior research associate at the FRS-FNRS and associate professor at the University of Liège (Center for Ethnic and Migration Studies). He is also the coordinator of the IMISCOE Research Network. Peter De Cuyper is a migrant integration expert and research manager at the University of Leuven, HIVA – Research Institute for Work and Society.

Social protection is the collective insurance against individual risks; however, when migrants, asylum seekers, and EU citizens access these social rights, the perception of the larger population differs, with some viewing migrants as receiving 'excessive' welfare benefits whilst take-up remains under the rate of natives. Vandermeerschen, Mescoli, Lafleur, and De Cuyper's book is exceptional in explaining how street-level bureaucrats employ privileged discretion to interpret formal rights, categorise, and stratify 'immigrants' based on shared understandings of deservingness. In doing so, social protection can paradoxically accentuate, rather than mitigate, social inequalities in countries with high welfare such as Belgium. This is a must-read for those interested how nation, belonging and borders are practiced and reimagined in contemporary Europe not only on their physical, flag flying frontier but in welfare provision, i.e. in invisible yet effectives sites of state bureaucracy. - Roxana Barbules, University of Leeds UK

• Introduction Elsa Mescoli and Jean-Michel LafleurChapter 1. Conceptualising immigrants’ access to social assistance and their interaction with street-level bureaucrats Roberta Perna and Hanne VandermeerschenChapter 2. Social assistance bureaucracies and new migrants: the Belgian context Abraham FranssenChapter 3. Applying mixed-method design in the study of immigrant social protection Elsa Mescoli, Angeliki Konstantinidou, Marije Reidsma and Jérémy MandinPART I. Social assistance for newly arrived immigrantsChapter 4. Explaining variations in forms of service delivery for newcomers Elsa Mescoli, Hanne Vandermeerschen, Adriana Costa Santos and Carla MasciaChapter 5. Understanding challenges and pitfalls in the service delivery to newly arrived immigrants Adriana Costa Santos, Hanne Vandermeerschen and Elsa MescoliChapter 6. Labour market activation and newly arrived immigrants Hanne Vandermeerschen, Adriana Costa Santos and Elsa MescoliConclusion Part I Hanne VandermeerschenPART II. Policy in practice: the decision-making processIntroduction Elsa MescoliChapter 7. The allocation of social assistance as a hierarchised decision-making process Elsa Mescoli and Hanne VandermeerschenChapter 8. The discretion of social workers towards newly arrived migrants Elsa MescoliConclusion Part II Elsa MescoliPART III. Accessing welfare services in Belgium: the perspective of newly arrived immigrantsChapter 9. Pathways of access: analysing newly arrived immigrants’ access to welfare services Marije Reidsma and Michelle CrijnsChapter 10. The newcomers’ perception of social assistance provision and its organisation Adriana Costa Santos and Youri Lou VertongenChapter 11. Developing forms of agency: how do newcomers deal with social services Jérémy MandinConclusion Part III Jérémy MandinPart IV. ConclusionHanne Vandermeerschen and Peter De CuyperAbout the authors