Activation, work and well‐being: theory, evidence and policy implications

Despite the centrality of activation, paid work and wellbeing to advanced welfare systems their interrelationships remain fragmented and underdeveloped in scholarship and policy. The present article makes original contributions to theory, evidence and policy in this context. Theoretically the article presents the two alternative accounts of these relationships and argues for their integration into a single framework. Empirically, path analyses within multivariate structural equation models examine this novel integrated theorisation quantitatively for the first time in the literature using the policy case study of a UK based voluntary Individual Placement and Support (IPS) activation programme for people with substance misuse issues. The findings support our integrated theoretical framework and highlight the direct importance of activation programmes to client wellbeing through programme participation alongside their indirect wellbeing importance through the wellbeing effects of resulting paid work transitions. The wellbeing implications for policy and practice are significant and further research is needed to further develop our understanding of how different activation approaches affect wellbeing both directly and through its shaping of differing employment types and trajectories.