Table 1 Characteristics of unemployment protection in 23 European countries, ranked by welfare state regime (2004)33 34

Welfare regime (1–5, high–low)	Country	Funding system	Qualifying period*	Initial net replacement rate (% of net average wages)†	Unemployment insurance benefit duration (months)‡	Waiting period (days)§
1. Scandinavian	Denmark	Subsidised voluntary insurance	12 months in last 3 years	70	48	0
	Finland	Voluntary subsidised insurance and social assistance system	43 weeks in last 2 years	70	23	7
	Norway	Social insurance	Annual earnings in last year equal to 75% of base amount	68	36	5
	Sweden	Subsidised programme of basic insurance and voluntary income-related insurance	6 months in last 12 months	75	28	5
2. Bismarckian	Austria	Social insurance	28 weeks in last 12 months	63	9	0
	Belgium	Social insurance	468 days in last 27 months	61	No limit	0
	France	Social insurance and social assistance	6 months in last 22 months	75	23	8
	Germany	Social insurance and social assistance	12 months in last 2 years	69	12	0
	Luxembourg	Social insurance	26 weeks in last 12 months	80	12	0
	Netherlands	Social insurance and social assistance	26 weeks in last 39 weeks	74	24	0
	Switzerland	Social insurance	12 months in last 2 years	77	24	5
3. Anglo-Saxon	Ireland	Social insurance and social assistance	39 weeks in last 12 months	49	15	3
3. Anglo-Saxon	United Kingdom	Social insurance and social assistance	Contributions equivalent to 25 and 50 times the lower earnings limit must have been paid in the last 2 years	54	6	3
4. Southern Europe	Greece	Social insurance	125 days in last 14 months	55	12	6
	Italy	Social insurance	2 years of insurance contributions with 52 weeks contributions in last 2 years	54	6	7
	Portugal	Social insurance and social assistance	540 days in last 24 months	83	24	0
	Spain	Social insurance	12 months in last 6 years	67	21	0
5. Eastern Europe	Czech Republic	Social insurance	12 months in last 3 years	56	5	–
	Hungary	Social insurance	12 months in last 4 years	49	9	0
	Poland	Social insurance	Earnings in 18 months prior to claim must be at least equivalent to the minimum wage	59	12	7
	Slovenia	Social insurance	12 months in last 18 months	56	8	–

*For unemployment insurance benefits.
†Net replacement rate = (benefit income when unemployed – tax on benefit income)/(earned income + benefit income when employed − tax on earnings and benefits) × 100; it is assumed that the unemployed worker is 40 years old and has an uninterrupted employment record of 22 years. Benefits included in calculation: unemployment insurance, unemployment assistance, social assistance, family benefits, housing benefits.
‡Months at equivalent to the initial rate for the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Spain, where the benefit level declines overtime (eg, for Spain, where the nominal replacement rate declines from 70% to 60% after 6 months, the month’s equivalent initial rate is calculated as 6 months plus six-sevenths of 18 months). In most countries after the insurance period ends the unemployed person is entitled to claim social assistance (which may be means-tested).
§No data available.