Understanding Workfare- Balancing Welfare and Work Requirements
Workfare is an umbrella term for welfare-to-work initiatives or, rather, social welfare programs that require non-disabled people to work in order to receive aid (Besley et al., 1992). This was a plan initiated by Bill Clinton in an effort to end the usual welfare programs. The new plan, workfare, was that welfare recipients were required to undergo job training or take public service jobs with the goal of eradicating poverty (Besley et al., 1992).
In my view, I disagree with the concept of workfare. This is because I find the idea that recipients of aid, i.e., the poor and needy, should work in exchange for the aid they desperately need highly contradictory. The concept conjures up a demeaning image of forced labour and signifies the poor’s spiteful victimization. However, while undergoing training would probably prove beneficial for such individuals at some point, I believe that the training should not be conditional on the aid. Additionally, some individuals who require aid may not be able to undergo the training or take up public service jobs because they are too old, sick, or cannot attend due to challenges like homelessness.
Furthermore, according to Jamie Peck (2001), over time, workfare has evolved from a concept to help create large-scale jobs to being more concerned with averting welfare claims and demanding the acceptance of poorly paying, unstable jobs. Jamie Peck (2001) also demonstrates that plans to implement workfare in America proved ineffective, expensive, and bureaucratic.
In conclusion, while workfare was meant to equip individuals with skills and make them independent, the aid should not have been conditional on the work or training received. Instead, the training should be an addition to the financial aid as well.
References
Besley, T., Coate, S. (1992). Workfare versus welfare: Incentive arguments for work requirements in poverty-alleviation programs. The American Economic Review, 82(1), 249-261.
Peck, J. (2001). Workfare states. Guilford Press.
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Describe the concept of “Workfare.” Provide your personal thoughts and opinions on the subject (do you agree or disagree and why?).
Understanding Workfare- Balancing Welfare and Work Requirements
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