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Workfare

March 20, 2023

Workfare is a governmental plan under which welfare recipients are required to accept public-service jobs or to participate in job training.[1] Many countries around the world have adopted workfare (sometimes implemented as "work-first" policies) to reduce poverty among able-bodied adults, however their approaches to execution vary.[2] The United States and United Kingdom are two such countries utilizing workfare, albeit with different backgrounds.

Background

Workfare was first introduced by civil rights leader James Charles Evers in 1968; however, it was popularized by Richard Nixon in a televised speech August 1969.[3] An early model of workfare had been pioneered in 1961 by Joseph Mitchell in Newburgh, New York.[4] Traditional welfare benefits systems are usually awarded based on certain conditions, such as searching for work, or based on meeting criteria that would position the recipient as unavailable to seek employment or be employed. Under workfare, recipients have to meet certain participation requirements to continue to receive their welfare benefits. These requirements are often a combination of activities that are intended to improve the recipient's job prospects (such as training, rehabilitation, and work experience) and those designated as contributing to society (such as unpaid or low-paid work). These programs, now common in Australia (known as "mutual obligation"), Canada, and the United Kingdom, have generated considerable debate and controversy. In the Netherlands workfare is known as Work First, based on the Wisconsin Works program from the United States.

Role of the welfare state

Workfare approaches to welfare are examples of Active Labor Market Policy (ALMP) that differ based on country, welfare state, and time period. Active labor market policies are utilized to counteract capitalistic market failure that prevent full employment in an economy. Four types of active labor market policies are incentive reinforcement, employment assistance, maintaining occupation, and human (social) capital investment. Workfare/work-first approaches have been identified as more coercive forms of welfare to work regimes.[5] The US and the UK are both examples of liberal welfare regimes that prioritize the market's role in mitigating poverty, hence adopting workfare.[5]

There are two main types of workfare scheme: those that encourage direct employment to get individuals off the welfare roll and directly into the workforce, and those that are intended to increase human capital by providing training and education to those currently in the welfare system.[3]

In less developed countries, similar schemes are designed to alleviate rural poverty among day-labourers by providing state-subsidised temporary work during those periods of the year when little agricultural work is available. For example, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in India offers 100 days' paid employment per year for those eligible, rather than unemployment benefits on the Western model. However, a workfare model typically not only focuses on provision of social protection through a wage-income transfer, but also supports workers to get into work.

Goals

The purported main goal of workfare is to generate a "net contribution" to society from welfare recipients. Most commonly, it means getting unemployed people into paid work, reducing or eliminating welfare payments to them and creating an income that generates taxes. Workfare participants may retain certain employee rights throughout the process, however, often workfare programs are determined to be "outside employment relationships" and therefore the rights of beneficiaries can be different.[6]

Some workfare systems also aim to derive a contribution from welfare recipients by more direct means. Such systems obligate unemployed people to undertake work that is considered beneficial to their community.

United States

The history of workfare in the United States dates back to before the American Revolution, during which land grants and military pensions were distributed sub-nationally and based on means-testing. The disbursement of the "first" social benefits set precedents for the development of the US welfare state.[7] In the early days of the United States, most Americans were deeply connected to the Protestant religion that favored literacy and hard work. Therefore, education was promoted and poor relief/cash assistance was discouraged in addressing poverty. In addition, the United States never had a history of feudalism to leave a residue of distinct social classes. Feudalism discouraged education to preserve social order; instead the United States immediately embraced capitalism, an economic system in full support of public education. As such, the United States from its early beginnings placed greater importance on education to decrease poverty.[8]

This history gave rise to colonial poor relief methodology that supported work, as a means of increasing self-reliance. Impoverished and destitute community members were forced into labor at poorhouses and workhouses to enable individuals to provide for themselves while completing a task for the community. Workhouses were designed for the "unworthy" poor, or those who were unemployed but able to work.[7] During this time, women were disproportionately found in workhouses, as they were unable to own property or run a household after a man had abandoned her or died. People of color were unable to receive any poor relief at all. This "deservingness" discrepancy impacting women and people of color set the stage for disproportionate assistance to date.[7] Poorhouses and workhouses existed as a main method of poor relief through the 19th century, particularly growing in popularity as immigration increased in the United States and leading to the narrative that poverty equates to laziness.[7]

Throughout the 20th century, narratives about laziness morphed into stereotypes such as the welfare queen that aimed to paint black, single mothers as abusers of the welfare system. Under this stereotype, black mothers refused to get jobs, had numerous children, and lived exclusively off of taxpayer dollars. While applying only to a small percentage of the population, rhetoric such as this laid the ground work for welfare reform in the 90s.[9]

In 1996, President Bill Clinton passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (also known as welfare reform), which created Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), shortened welfare stays, and mandated intensive job training and work requirements for individuals in need of assistance. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act mandated work requirements after two years of assistance, instituted a five-year limit, created state controlled funding, rewarded work with performance bonuses, and required participation in paid or unpaid work.[10] Welfare reform made workfare the official social welfare ideology of the United States.[11] The effort to decrease the number of people on the welfare roll was successful, although some argue that this did not translate to a decrease in poverty.[12]

The criticism related to workfare in the United States is most notably about the tight restrictions and opportunities for low-skilled workers. Loic Wacquant theorizes that the United States and other Western, liberal states have shifted towards more punitive governance under the guise of neoliberalism. Supplemented by welfare reform and the 1994 Crime Bill, he argues that workfare has shrunk (via stricter restrictions) and prisonfare has expanded, ultimately locking the same vulnerable population in a vicious cycle in which low wage work, decreased benefits, and low social mobility lead to increased crime and punishment. He also argues that the institutional racism inherent in the United States has led to the underdevelopment of public aid.[13]

In all welfare states, there is a constant need to address inclusion and exclusion (i.e., who Is able to access policies and who is not). Race discrimination has placed a central role in this struggle, particularly in the United States as a diverse nation. Typically, people of color have struggled entering the workforce due to narratives related to high crime and low-skilled levels. This discrimination is a leading cause for the higher rates of poverty of people of color in the United States.[5] Jeff Manza argues that people of color, particularly African Americans, are more likely to utilize social benefits because they are more likely to be poor.[14] Since workfare decreases the emphasis on education and increases the emphasis on work, scholars like Manza assert that work-first policies trap people of color in a cycle of low-wage work and poverty.[14]

Gender inequality arises in workfare as well, particularly related to equal pay and dependent care work. Welfare states can adopt different models related to the main breadwinner: male-breadwinner model, dual breadwinner model, or dual-earner-dual carer model.[5] Workfare in the United States is focused on the financial self-reliance of families through work, and tends to lean towards a male-breadwinner model.[12] A male-breadwinner model assumes that men participate in the labor market and women complete domestic and caregiving tasks unpaid.[15] Welfare policies designed and structured based on the assumption and support of marriage significantly disadvantage single mothers. For example, in some states, work-first policies may not consider the childcare responsibilities of women receiving benefits when requiring them to participate in workfare.[16] Single mothers are 33% more likely than married parents to be in poverty in the United States also in part due to the stagnant minimum wage[12] and gender pay gap.[17]

United Kingdom

Main article: Workfare in the United Kingdom

Criticism

In the UK, critics point out that the type of work offered by workfare providers is generally unskilled and is comparable to community work carried out by criminal offenders being punished on community service schemes.[18] Many charities and workers' unions have criticized workfare schemes for undermining the work done by actual charity volunteers, and acting as a threat to low paid unskilled workers.

See also

References

  1. ^ workfare. Dictionary.com. Retrieved: 21 September 2021.
  2. ^ Greve, Bent (2020). Welfare and the welfare state : central issues now and in the future (Second ed.). Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN 978-0-429-34119-9. OCLC 1128885823.
  3. ^ a b Peck, Jamie (1998). "Workfare: a geopolitical etymology". Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publishing. 16 (2): 133–161. doi:10.1068/d160133. S2CID 143608588.
  4. ^ Leman, Christopher (1980). The Collapse of Welfare Reform: Political Institutions, Policy, and the Poor in Canada and the United States. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. p. 217. ISBN 9780262120814.
  5. ^ a b c d Greve, Bent (2020). Welfare and the Welfare State : Central Issues Now and in the Future. Oxford, England: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-76427-7. OCLC 1165486665.
  6. ^ Dietrich, Sharon; Emsellem, M.; Paradise, J. (2000). "Employment Rights of Workfare Participants and Displaced Workers". National Employment Law Project Second Edition, March 2000. New York City: NELP.
  7. ^ a b c d Jensen, Laura S. (December 16, 2013). Béland, Daniel; Morgan, Kimberly J.; Howard, Christopher (eds.). Social Provision before the Twentieth Century. Vol. 1. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838509.013.002. ISBN 978-0-19-983850-9.
  8. ^ Duman, Anil (August 2, 2011). "Wealth and Welfare States Is America a Laggard or Leader?20111Irwin Garfinkel, Lee Rainwater and Timothy Smeeding. Wealth and Welfare States Is America a Laggard or Leader?". International Journal of Social Economics. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 38 (9): 816–821. doi:10.1108/03068291111157276. ISSN 0306-8293.
  9. ^ Blake, John (2012-01-23). "Return of the 'Welfare Queen' | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  10. ^ "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996". ASPE. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  11. ^ "Workfare | social welfare program". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  12. ^ a b c Strader, Eiko (2015). "Anti-Poverty Policies and the Structure of Inequality". Routledge Handbook on Poverty in the United States. Oxford, England: Routledge. pp. 259–267.
  13. ^ Wacquant, Loïc (June 2010). "Crafting the Neoliberal State: Workfare, Prisonfare, and Social Insecurity1: Crafting the Neoliberal State". Sociological Forum. 25 (2): 197–220. doi:10.1111/j.1573-7861.2010.01173.x.
  14. ^ a b Manza, Jeff (2000). "Race and the underdevelopment of the American welfare state". Theory and Society. 29 (6): 819–832. doi:10.1023/a:1026547309084. ISSN 0304-2421. S2CID 141411135.
  15. ^ "International Encyclopedia of Social Policy". cw.routledge.com. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  16. ^ "Index", Ensuring Poverty, University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 209–218, 2019-12-31, doi:10.9783/9780812295573-012, ISBN 9780812295573, S2CID 242251878, retrieved 2021-10-26
  17. ^ Shaw, Elyse (May 2021). "NARROW THE GENDER PAY GAP, REDUCE POVERTY FOR FAMILIES: THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF EQUAL PAY BY STATE" (PDF). Institute for Women's Policy Research.
  18. ^ Fuentes, Annette (February 6, 1997). "Giuliani's Workfare: Slaves of New York". The Baltimore Chronicle. Retrieved 15 January 2018.

Further reading

  • Bertram, Eva. The Workfare State: Public Assistance Politics from the New Deal to the New Democrats (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015). 328 pp in the United States.
  • Lodemel, Ivar, and Amilcar Moreira, eds. Activation or workfare? Governance and the neo-liberal convergence (Oxford University Press, 2014).
  • Lødemel, Ivar, and Heather Trickey, eds. 'An offer you can't refuse': workfare in international perspective (Policy Press, 2001).
  • Peck, Jamie. "Workfare: a geopolitical etymology." Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 16.2 (1998): 133-161. Online
  • Wacquant, Loïc. "Crafting the neoliberal state: workfare, prisonfare, and social insecurity 1." Sociological Forum 25#2 (2010). Online

External links

  • "Workfare Tendencies in Scandinavian Welfare Policies"

March 20, 2023
workfare, examples, perspective, this, article, deal, primarily, with, english, speaking, world, represent, worldwide, view, subject, improve, this, article, discuss, issue, talk, page, create, article, appropriate, february, 2019, learn, when, remove, this, t. The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the English speaking world and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate February 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Workfare is a governmental plan under which welfare recipients are required to accept public service jobs or to participate in job training 1 Many countries around the world have adopted workfare sometimes implemented as work first policies to reduce poverty among able bodied adults however their approaches to execution vary 2 The United States and United Kingdom are two such countries utilizing workfare albeit with different backgrounds Contents 1 Background 2 Role of the welfare state 3 Goals 4 United States 5 United Kingdom 6 Criticism 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksBackground EditThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed September 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Workfare was first introduced by civil rights leader James Charles Evers in 1968 however it was popularized by Richard Nixon in a televised speech August 1969 3 An early model of workfare had been pioneered in 1961 by Joseph Mitchell in Newburgh New York 4 Traditional welfare benefits systems are usually awarded based on certain conditions such as searching for work or based on meeting criteria that would position the recipient as unavailable to seek employment or be employed Under workfare recipients have to meet certain participation requirements to continue to receive their welfare benefits These requirements are often a combination of activities that are intended to improve the recipient s job prospects such as training rehabilitation and work experience and those designated as contributing to society such as unpaid or low paid work These programs now common in Australia known as mutual obligation Canada and the United Kingdom have generated considerable debate and controversy In the Netherlands workfare is known as Work First based on the Wisconsin Works program from the United States Role of the welfare state EditWorkfare approaches to welfare are examples of Active Labor Market Policy ALMP that differ based on country welfare state and time period Active labor market policies are utilized to counteract capitalistic market failure that prevent full employment in an economy Four types of active labor market policies are incentive reinforcement employment assistance maintaining occupation and human social capital investment Workfare work first approaches have been identified as more coercive forms of welfare to work regimes 5 The US and the UK are both examples of liberal welfare regimes that prioritize the market s role in mitigating poverty hence adopting workfare 5 There are two main types of workfare scheme those that encourage direct employment to get individuals off the welfare roll and directly into the workforce and those that are intended to increase human capital by providing training and education to those currently in the welfare system 3 In less developed countries similar schemes are designed to alleviate rural poverty among day labourers by providing state subsidised temporary work during those periods of the year when little agricultural work is available For example the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act NREGA in India offers 100 days paid employment per year for those eligible rather than unemployment benefits on the Western model However a workfare model typically not only focuses on provision of social protection through a wage income transfer but also supports workers to get into work Goals EditThe purported main goal of workfare is to generate a net contribution to society from welfare recipients Most commonly it means getting unemployed people into paid work reducing or eliminating welfare payments to them and creating an income that generates taxes Workfare participants may retain certain employee rights throughout the process however often workfare programs are determined to be outside employment relationships and therefore the rights of beneficiaries can be different 6 Some workfare systems also aim to derive a contribution from welfare recipients by more direct means Such systems obligate unemployed people to undertake work that is considered beneficial to their community United States EditThe history of workfare in the United States dates back to before the American Revolution during which land grants and military pensions were distributed sub nationally and based on means testing The disbursement of the first social benefits set precedents for the development of the US welfare state 7 In the early days of the United States most Americans were deeply connected to the Protestant religion that favored literacy and hard work Therefore education was promoted and poor relief cash assistance was discouraged in addressing poverty In addition the United States never had a history of feudalism to leave a residue of distinct social classes Feudalism discouraged education to preserve social order instead the United States immediately embraced capitalism an economic system in full support of public education As such the United States from its early beginnings placed greater importance on education to decrease poverty 8 This history gave rise to colonial poor relief methodology that supported work as a means of increasing self reliance Impoverished and destitute community members were forced into labor at poorhouses and workhouses to enable individuals to provide for themselves while completing a task for the community Workhouses were designed for the unworthy poor or those who were unemployed but able to work 7 During this time women were disproportionately found in workhouses as they were unable to own property or run a household after a man had abandoned her or died People of color were unable to receive any poor relief at all This deservingness discrepancy impacting women and people of color set the stage for disproportionate assistance to date 7 Poorhouses and workhouses existed as a main method of poor relief through the 19th century particularly growing in popularity as immigration increased in the United States and leading to the narrative that poverty equates to laziness 7 Throughout the 20th century narratives about laziness morphed into stereotypes such as the welfare queen that aimed to paint black single mothers as abusers of the welfare system Under this stereotype black mothers refused to get jobs had numerous children and lived exclusively off of taxpayer dollars While applying only to a small percentage of the population rhetoric such as this laid the ground work for welfare reform in the 90s 9 In 1996 President Bill Clinton passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act also known as welfare reform which created Temporary Assistance for Needy Families TANF shortened welfare stays and mandated intensive job training and work requirements for individuals in need of assistance The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act mandated work requirements after two years of assistance instituted a five year limit created state controlled funding rewarded work with performance bonuses and required participation in paid or unpaid work 10 Welfare reform made workfare the official social welfare ideology of the United States 11 The effort to decrease the number of people on the welfare roll was successful although some argue that this did not translate to a decrease in poverty 12 The criticism related to workfare in the United States is most notably about the tight restrictions and opportunities for low skilled workers Loic Wacquant theorizes that the United States and other Western liberal states have shifted towards more punitive governance under the guise of neoliberalism Supplemented by welfare reform and the 1994 Crime Bill he argues that workfare has shrunk via stricter restrictions and prisonfare has expanded ultimately locking the same vulnerable population in a vicious cycle in which low wage work decreased benefits and low social mobility lead to increased crime and punishment He also argues that the institutional racism inherent in the United States has led to the underdevelopment of public aid 13 In all welfare states there is a constant need to address inclusion and exclusion i e who Is able to access policies and who is not Race discrimination has placed a central role in this struggle particularly in the United States as a diverse nation Typically people of color have struggled entering the workforce due to narratives related to high crime and low skilled levels This discrimination is a leading cause for the higher rates of poverty of people of color in the United States 5 Jeff Manza argues that people of color particularly African Americans are more likely to utilize social benefits because they are more likely to be poor 14 Since workfare decreases the emphasis on education and increases the emphasis on work scholars like Manza assert that work first policies trap people of color in a cycle of low wage work and poverty 14 Gender inequality arises in workfare as well particularly related to equal pay and dependent care work Welfare states can adopt different models related to the main breadwinner male breadwinner model dual breadwinner model or dual earner dual carer model 5 Workfare in the United States is focused on the financial self reliance of families through work and tends to lean towards a male breadwinner model 12 A male breadwinner model assumes that men participate in the labor market and women complete domestic and caregiving tasks unpaid 15 Welfare policies designed and structured based on the assumption and support of marriage significantly disadvantage single mothers For example in some states work first policies may not consider the childcare responsibilities of women receiving benefits when requiring them to participate in workfare 16 Single mothers are 33 more likely than married parents to be in poverty in the United States also in part due to the stagnant minimum wage 12 and gender pay gap 17 United Kingdom EditMain article Workfare in the United KingdomCriticism EditIn the UK critics point out that the type of work offered by workfare providers is generally unskilled and is comparable to community work carried out by criminal offenders being punished on community service schemes 18 Many charities and workers unions have criticized workfare schemes for undermining the work done by actual charity volunteers and acting as a threat to low paid unskilled workers See also EditAFDC Exploitation of labour Forced labour Hartz Reforms in Germany Involuntary servitude Involuntary unemployment Job guarantee JobBridge Republic of Ireland Make work job National Workshops the first short lived attempt to create a modern workfare system in 1848 France New Deal UK New Deal USA Welfare to work in the US Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 Retraining TANF Universal basic income Wage slavery Welfare trap Work for the Dole an Australian government program References Edit workfare Dictionary com Retrieved 21 September 2021 Greve Bent 2020 Welfare and the welfare state central issues now and in the future Second ed Abingdon Oxon ISBN 978 0 429 34119 9 OCLC 1128885823 a b Peck Jamie 1998 Workfare a geopolitical etymology Environment and Planning D Society and Space Thousand Oaks California SAGE Publishing 16 2 133 161 doi 10 1068 d160133 S2CID 143608588 Leman Christopher 1980 The Collapse of Welfare Reform Political Institutions Policy and the Poor in Canada and the United States Cambridge Massachusetts MIT Press p 217 ISBN 9780262120814 a b c d Greve Bent 2020 Welfare and the Welfare State Central Issues Now and in the Future Oxford England Taylor amp Francis ISBN 978 1 000 76427 7 OCLC 1165486665 Dietrich Sharon Emsellem M Paradise J 2000 Employment Rights of Workfare Participants and Displaced Workers National Employment Law Project Second Edition March 2000 New York City NELP a b c d Jensen Laura S December 16 2013 Beland Daniel Morgan Kimberly J Howard Christopher eds Social Provision before the Twentieth Century Vol 1 Oxford England Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 oxfordhb 9780199838509 013 002 ISBN 978 0 19 983850 9 Duman Anil August 2 2011 Wealth and Welfare States Is America a Laggard or Leader 20111Irwin Garfinkel Lee Rainwater and Timothy Smeeding Wealth and Welfare States Is America a Laggard or Leader International Journal of Social Economics Oxford England Oxford University Press 38 9 816 821 doi 10 1108 03068291111157276 ISSN 0306 8293 Blake John 2012 01 23 Return of the Welfare Queen CNN Politics CNN Retrieved 2021 10 26 The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 ASPE Retrieved 2021 10 26 Workfare social welfare program Encyclopedia Britannica Retrieved 2021 10 11 a b c Strader Eiko 2015 Anti Poverty Policies and the Structure of Inequality Routledge Handbook on Poverty in the United States Oxford England Routledge pp 259 267 Wacquant Loic June 2010 Crafting the Neoliberal State Workfare Prisonfare and Social Insecurity1 Crafting the Neoliberal State Sociological Forum 25 2 197 220 doi 10 1111 j 1573 7861 2010 01173 x a b Manza Jeff 2000 Race and the underdevelopment of the American welfare state Theory and Society 29 6 819 832 doi 10 1023 a 1026547309084 ISSN 0304 2421 S2CID 141411135 International Encyclopedia of Social Policy cw routledge com Retrieved 2021 10 26 Index Ensuring Poverty University of Pennsylvania Press pp 209 218 2019 12 31 doi 10 9783 9780812295573 012 ISBN 9780812295573 S2CID 242251878 retrieved 2021 10 26 Shaw Elyse May 2021 NARROW THE GENDER PAY GAP REDUCE POVERTY FOR FAMILIES THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF EQUAL PAY BY STATE PDF Institute for Women s Policy Research Fuentes Annette February 6 1997 Giuliani s Workfare Slaves of New York The Baltimore Chronicle Retrieved 15 January 2018 Further reading EditBertram Eva The Workfare State Public Assistance Politics from the New Deal to the New Democrats University of Pennsylvania Press 2015 328 pp in the United States Lodemel Ivar and Amilcar Moreira eds Activation or workfare Governance and the neo liberal convergence Oxford University Press 2014 Lodemel Ivar and Heather Trickey eds An offer you can t refuse workfare in international perspective Policy Press 2001 Peck Jamie Workfare a geopolitical etymology Environment and Planning D Society and Space 16 2 1998 133 161 Online Wacquant Loic Crafting the neoliberal state workfare prisonfare and social insecurity 1 Sociological Forum 25 2 2010 OnlineExternal links Edit Workfare Tendencies in Scandinavian Welfare Policies Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Workfare amp oldid 1136867925, 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