Boosting the incomes of poor families while simultaneously enhancing the incentive to take up a job (if currently out of work), or to work longer hours (if currently employed part-time), is a key policy goal in Europe and beyond. This conceptual paper explains how work incentives may be measured, describes the main features of (and the issues raised by) in-work benefits, and outlines the potential contribution of the European tax-benefit model EUROMOD to further research on work incentives and in-work benefits in EU member states.
