take cuts to other forms of government support

[GoodTaste]

I understand the phrase "take cuts to other forms of government support" as "give up other forms of government support." Am I on the right track? If so, the nuance (like in rhetorics) is still not clear to me. "Take cuts" sound a bit fiercer than "give up". I am not sure.

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Standing points to the flop of a Finnish trial as evidence. The project, which paid 2,000 unemployed Finns €560 per month, ran throughout 2017 and 2018 before being cancelled because the results suggested that participants were no more likely to find jobs than the control group, who received the usual government unemployment support. But the trial enrolled only 2,000 people, and participants had to take cuts to other forms of government support, both of which made it hard to measure the programme’s impact.

Source: Nature July 10, 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01993-3

 

[GoesStation]

What do you find when you look up the noun cut in a dictionary? Please remember to do this before you post new questions.

 

[GoodTaste]

Of course I did. It means reduction. That is why I said in the OP "take cuts" basically means "give up" in that context.

 

[GoesStation]

Of course I did. It means reduction. That is why I said in the OP "take cuts" basically means "give up" in that context.

Ah, I see now. "Take cuts" means "receive a smaller share of". "Give up" implies a degree of voluntary action that isn't implied in the original text, and, if it isn't qualified, it means "voluntarily and completely stop receiving" something.

 

[Tdol]

That's right- the cuts are not voluntary.