The results in Figure 1.10 are restricted to countries having replied to both the 2010 and 2011 OECD questionnaires. This qualitative evidence, together with that reported in the 2009 and 2010 editions of the Employment Outlook, does suggest a break with the historical pattern in which spending on active measures was essentially acyclic (OECD, 2009a). Other components of the social safety-net can also provide income support for certain groups of the unemployed during an economic downturn.