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The reduced activity system aims to diminish the disincentive effects of unemployment benefits by allowing jobseekers to combine paid activity and their job search, receiving at the same time at least partial unemployment benefits and wages for the paid activity. Our review of the theoretical and empirical literature seeks to determine whether this system (which only concerns temporary or part-time jobs) allows a sustainable integration into the labor market. It shows that the expected theoretical effects on the career trajectories of jobseekers and on the quality of potential new jobs are ambiguous and require empirical investigation. National and international empirical studies then highlight the need to distinguish between short-term and long-term effects and that there is a strong heterogeneity of impacts between jobseekers. Nevertheless, in France, the reduced-activity system seems to boost access to long-term jobs, but with relatively modest effects. However, it does not seem to improve or damage the quality of the subsequent job. JEL classification: J42, J64, J65