Helle Bendix Kleif

Helle Bendix Kleif serves as Assistant Professor in Sociology and Social Work at Aalborg University's Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, affiliated with WISER (Welfare, Innovation, Social Work and Employment Relations) and the SSH Children and Youth Research Network, focusing on vulnerable groups' connections to work/education and welfare state policy impacts.

Her Ph.D. research examined movement patterns among NEET youth using Danish registry data, analyzing consequences of cash benefit reforms for activity-assessed youth groups. Current work continues through CUBB collaborations with Danish municipalities on citizen-engaged employment initiatives.

Research interests center on youth vulnerability, welfare state design, and longitudinal analysis of labor market transitions, employing mixed methods including register studies and ethnographic fieldwork to bridge academic-practitioner knowledge gaps in employment services.

Recent publications (2019-2023) reveal consistent focus on NEET dynamics through typological frameworks, temporal analyses, and policy evaluations, demonstrating methodological rigor in regression discontinuity designs and longitudinal studies of Danish welfare reforms.

Active in externally funded projects including CUBB 2.0 (2024-) and LISES (2016-2020), she facilitates knowledge exchange between researchers and practitioners through workshops like KL Beskæftigelsestræf 2024 and KL Jobcamp 2023, emphasizing co-creation in employment services.

As member of WISER and the Children, Youth and Vulnerability research network, she contributes to practitioner-academic collaborations through the Center for User Involvement in the Public Sector, generating insights on welfare service innovation for vulnerable populations.