At the Edge of Longitudinal Analysis. Welfare Institutions and Social Assistance Dynamics

The main aim of this contribution is to present and discuss critically some of the results from the longitudinal analysis carried out in eight cities in five European countries within the general framework of the ESOPO project. In particular I will use these results in order to understand what longitudinal analysis can tell us as soon as we compare different citizenship systems using process-produced data from social assistance schemes as a relevant indicator. The contribution is divided into three sections. The first section will address some methodological issues and illustrate the driving hypothesis. The second section will present some main results from the longitudinal analysis carried out in the ESOPO project. The third section will highlight the institutional dimension and its role in shaping clients' recipiency dynamics, paying particular attention to the development of an interpretative framework.