Time on welfare: Dead time in citizen encounters with the sociotemporal order of public employment services

People seeking help from welfare state institutions often face temporal burdens when service provision is out of sync with their needs. Yet research lacks concepts that capture the temporal dimensions of citizen–state encounters, particularly how time itself can become a burden for welfare service users. This article develops a theoretical framework for destructive temporal experiences by drawing on Bourdieu’s work on time to introduce the concept of “dead time”. Focusing on long-term unemployment, we ask: How do dead time experiences arise in encounters with public employment services? The analysis is based on interviews and focus groups with a total of 80 unemployed claimants. We identify three mechanisms that generate or intensify dead time: lack of support in uncertain future-making, repetition, and bureaucratic complexity. Together, these mechanisms illuminate how welfare interventions may inadvertently produce temporal harm for those they aim to assist.