To check the robustness of the findings, this paper also reports results obtained when ignoring interruptions in benefit receipt of two months or less. A first way of summarizing differences in spell durations is by plotting the average exit rate from benefits at various stages of a spell, i.e. the hazard rate of exits from benefits (Figure 10). In all four countries, hazard rates show a declining pattern indicating that the probability of leaving benefits in a given period (conditional on not yet having left in any of the previous periods) falls with increased spell duration.