Newcomers Navigating the Welfare State Experiences of Immigrants and Street-Level Bureaucrats with Belgium’s Social Assistance System

The central topic of this book is the provision of social assistance to newly arrived immigrants. Belgium is the case study of our research. In Belgium, social assistance is provided by the so-called ‘Public Centres for Social Welfare’ (PCSW). These institutions, and their counterparts abroad, are general, non-migration specific institutions. However, they undoubtedly play a crucial role in granting access to social benefits and more generally, in the settling process and integration of new migrants. At the same time, welfare institutions such as the PCSW are not necessarily adapted to the increased diversity of their clientele. This raises the question to what extent the organisation of service delivery is adapted to the needs of newly arrived immigrants, and whether or not the actors in charge (social workers, managers,…) are equipped to deal with the specific needs of this group. By bringing together the perspective and experiences from social workers, management, and immigrant beneficiaries, this book brings unique insights in the reality of social assistance and the accessibility and suitability of welfare provision for recent immigrants in their host country, i.e. Belgium.