View source for Workfare

{{Short description|Form of welfare in which recipients are required to accept jobs or participate in job training}}
{{Globalize|article|Anglophone|2name=[[English-speaking world|the English-speaking world]]|date=February 2019}}
'''Workfare''' is a governmental plan under which [[welfare]] recipients are required to accept public-service jobs or to participate in job training.<ref>[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/workfare workfare.] Dictionary.com. Retrieved: 21 September 2021.</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Greve|first=Bent|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1128885823|title=Welfare and the welfare state : central issues now and in the future|date=2020|isbn=978-0-429-34119-9|edition=Second|location=Abingdon, Oxon|oclc=1128885823}}</ref> The United States and United Kingdom are two countries utilizing workfare, albeit with different backgrounds.
== Background ==
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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.<ref name="peck">{{cite journal|last=Peck|first=Jamie|year=1998|title=Workfare: a geopolitical etymology|journal=Environment and Planning D: Society and Space|publisher=[[SAGE Publishing]]|location=Thousand Oaks, California|volume=16|issue=2|pages=133–161|doi=10.1068/d160133|bibcode=1998EnPlD..16..133P |s2cid=143608588}}</ref> An early model of workfare had been pioneered in 1961 by [[Joseph Mitchell (city manager)|Joseph Mitchell]] in [[Newburgh, New York]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Leman|first=Christopher|url=https://archive.org/details/collapseofwelfar0000lema|title=The Collapse of Welfare Reform: Political Institutions, Policy, and the Poor in Canada and the United States|publisher=MIT Press|year=1980|isbn=9780262120814|place=Cambridge, Massachusetts|page=[https://archive.org/details/collapseofwelfar0000lema/page/217 217]|url-access=registration}}</ref> 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, [[:wikt:rehabilitation|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 [[Workfare in the United Kingdom|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 labour market policies|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.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book|last=Greve|first=Bent|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1165486665|title=Welfare and the Welfare State : Central Issues Now and in the Future|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|location=Oxford, England|date=2020|isbn=978-1-000-76427-7|oclc=1165486665}}</ref> The US and the UK are both examples of liberal welfare regimes that prioritize the market's role in mitigating poverty, hence adopting workfare.<ref name=":03"/>
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.<ref name="peck" />
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.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Dietrich| first1 = Sharon| last2 = Emsellem | first2 = M.| last3 = Paradise| first3 = J.| chapter = Employment Rights of Workfare Participants and Displaced Workers| title = National Employment Law Project Second Edition, March 2000| publisher = NELP| location=New York City| date = 2000| url = http://www.nelp.org/docUploads/pub18%2Epdf }}</ref>
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 grant]]s and military pensions were distributed sub-nationally and based on [[Means test|means-testing]]. The disbursement of the "first" social benefits set precedents for the development of the US welfare state.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Jensen|first=Laura S.|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838509.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199838509-e-002|title=Social Provision before the Twentieth Century|date=December 16, 2013|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford, England|editor-last=Béland|editor-first=Daniel|volume=1|language=en|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199838509.013.002|isbn=978-0-19-983850-9|editor-last2=Morgan|editor-first2=Kimberly J.|editor-last3=Howard|editor-first3=Christopher}}</ref> In the early days of the United States, most Americans were deeply connected to the [[Protestantism|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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Duman|first=Anil|date=August 2, 2011|title=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?|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford, England|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03068291111157276|journal=International Journal of Social Economics|volume=38|issue=9|pages=816–821|doi=10.1108/03068291111157276|issn=0306-8293}}</ref>
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 [[poorhouse]]s and [[workhouse]]s 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.<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref name=":1" />
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. This stereotype claimed that black mothers supposedly 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 groundwork for welfare reform in the 90s.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Blake|first=John|date=2012-01-23|title=Return of the 'Welfare Queen' {{!}} CNN Politics|url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/01/23/politics/weflare-queen/index.html|access-date=2021-10-26|website=CNN|language=en}}</ref>
In 1996, President [[Bill Clinton]] and the [[104th United States Congress|Republican Congress]] passed the [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act|Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act]] (also known as welfare reform), which created [[Temporary Assistance for Needy Families|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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996|url=https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/personal-responsibility-work-opportunity-reconciliation-act-1996|access-date=2021-10-26|website=ASPE|date=31 August 1996 |language=en}}</ref> Welfare reform made workfare the official social welfare ideology of the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Workfare {{!}} social welfare program|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/workfare|access-date=2021-10-11|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Strader|first=Eiko|date=2015|chapter=Anti-Poverty Policies and the Structure of Inequality|title=Routledge Handbook on Poverty in the United States|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=Oxford, England|pages=259–267}}</ref>
The criticism related to workfare in the United States is most notably about the tight restrictions and opportunities for low-skilled workers. [[Loïc Wacquant|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 [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act|welfare reform]] and the [[Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act|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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wacquant|first=Loïc|date=June 2010|title=Crafting the Neoliberal State: Workfare, Prisonfare, and Social Insecurity1: Crafting the Neoliberal State|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1573-7861.2010.01173.x|journal=Sociological Forum|language=en|volume=25|issue=2|pages=197–220|doi=10.1111/j.1573-7861.2010.01173.x}}</ref>
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). [[Racial discrimination|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.<ref name=":03"/> [[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.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Manza|first=Jeff|date=2000|title=Race and the underdevelopment of the American welfare state|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/a:1026547309084|journal=Theory and Society|volume=29|issue=6|pages=819–832|doi=10.1023/a:1026547309084|s2cid=141411135|issn=0304-2421}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":3" />
[[Gender inequality]] arises in workfare as well, particularly related to [[Equal pay for equal work|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.<ref name=":03" /> 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.<ref name=":2" /> A male-breadwinner model assumes that men participate in the labor market and women complete domestic and caregiving tasks unpaid.<ref>{{Cite web|title=International Encyclopedia of Social Policy|url=http://cw.routledge.com/ref/socialpolicy/male.html|access-date=2021-10-26|website=cw.routledge.com}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Citation|title=Index|date=2019-12-31|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.9783/9780812295573-012|work=Ensuring Poverty|pages=209–218|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|doi=10.9783/9780812295573-012|isbn=9780812295573|s2cid=242251878|access-date=2021-10-26}}</ref> 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 in the United States|minimum wage]]<ref name=":2" /> and [[Gender pay gap in the United States|gender pay gap]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Shaw|first=Elyse|date=May 2021|title=NARROW THE GENDER PAY GAP, REDUCE POVERTY FOR FAMILIES: THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF EQUAL PAY BY STATE|url=https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Economic-Impact-of-Equal-Pay-by-State_FINAL.pdf|publisher=[[Institute for Women's Policy Research]]}}</ref>
==United Kingdom==
{{Main|Workfare in the United Kingdom}}
==Critique==
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=== Support ===
{{See also|Workfare in the United Kingdom#Support}}
Canada ran the experimental [[Self-Sufficiency Project]], a "generous"<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Blundell |first=Richard |date=May 2002 |title=(Lecture) Welfare-to-Work: Which Policies Work and Why? |url=https://www.ifs.org.uk/conferences/keynes2001.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809065006/https://www.ifs.org.uk/conferences/keynes2001.pdf |archive-date=9 August 2017 |website=ifs.org.uk}}</ref> income supplement to welfare recipients who found work. 1998 research saw significant increases in employment rates and hours worked over the control group (who did not benefit from the project).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Card |first1=David |last2=Robins |first2=Philip |date=1998 |title=Do Financial Incentives Encourage Welfare Recipients To Work? |journal=Research in Labor Economics |issue=17 |pages=1–56}}</ref> Though later research suggested that the control group was on trend to catch-up with the recipients in the long-run.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Card |first1=David |last2=Michalopoulos |first2=Charles |last3=Robins |first3=Philip |date=August 2001 |title=The Limits to Wage Growth: Measuring the Growth Rate of Wages For Recent Welfare Leavers |url=https://ideas.repec.org//p/nbr/nberwo/8444.html |journal=NBER Working Papers |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last1=Bloom |first1=Dan |last2=Michalopoulos |first2=Charles |date=May 2001 |title=How Welfare and Work Policies Affect Employment and Income: A Synthesis of Research |url=https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/full_393.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116161521/https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/full_393.pdf |archive-date=16 Jan 2024 |access-date=16 Jan 2024 |website=mdrc.org}}</ref>
A 2001 review of a range of welfare programs concluded that earnings supplements are an effective policy to increase employment and earnings.<ref name=":4" />
=== 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.<ref name="Fuentes">{{cite news |last1=Fuentes |first1=Annette |date=February 6, 1997 |title=Giuliani's Workfare: Slaves of New York |url=http://www.baltimorechronicle.com/workfare.html |access-date=15 January 2018 |newspaper=[[The Baltimore Chronicle]]}}</ref>
Workfare has also been criticised as [[forced labour]], as those placed under workfare who do not work for who they are assigned to risk benefit sanctions and starvation from a loss of benefits needed to survive.<ref>{{cite news |last=Seymour |first=Richard |date=30 October 2013 |title=The Poundland ruling leaves the forced labour of workfare unchallenged |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/30/poundland-case-workfare-forced-labour-employers-workers |access-date=10 December 2023 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>Paz-Fuchs, Amir, [https://academic.oup.com/policy-press-scholarship-online/book/34179/chapter-abstract/289553218?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false 'Workfare’s persistent philosophical and legal issues: forced labour, reciprocity and a basic income guarantee'], in Anja Eleveld, Thomas Kampen, and Josien Arts (eds), Welfare to Work in Contemporary European Welfare States: Legal, Sociological and Philosophical Perspectives on Justice and Domination (Bristol, 2020; online edn, Policy Press Scholarship Online, 17 Sept. 2020), https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781447340010.003.0002, accessed 10 Dec. 2023.</ref>
A 2008 report by the UK's [[Department for Work and Pensions|DWP]] on US, Canadian, and Australian workfare schemes suggested against their effectiveness. It found little evidence that workfare majorly reduced the number of claimants, or increased the likelihood of finding work. Rather it pushes participants to stop claiming before even getting work, leaving them with no income. However, the report notes there was a limited pool of evidence.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Crisp |first1=Richard |last2=Fletcher |first2=Del Roy |title=A comparative review of workfare programmes in the United States, Canada and Australia |url=http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2007-2008/rrep533.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20130403112215/http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2007-2008/rrep533.pdf |archive-date=3 April 2013 |website=statistics.dwp.gov.uk}}</ref>
== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=35em}}
* [[Aid to Families with Dependent Children]]
* [[Exploitation of labour]]
* [[Forced labour]]
* [[Hartz concept|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)
* [[Participation income]]
* [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act]], welfare-to-work legislation in the US.
* [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834]]
* [[Retraining]]
* [[TANF]]
* [[Universal basic income]]
* [[Universal inheritance]]
* [[Welfare]]
* [[Wage slavery]]
* [[Welfare trap]]
* [[Work for the Dole]], an [[Australia]]n government program.
{{div col end}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==  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. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jamie_Peck2/publication/248880627_Workfare_A_geopolitical_etymology/links/5d6b3062299bf1808d5cc752/Workfare-A-geopolitical-etymology.pdf Online]
* Wacquant, Loïc. "Crafting the neoliberal state: workfare, prisonfare, and social insecurity 1." ''Sociological Forum'' 25#2 (2010). [http://www.miguelangelmartinez.net/IMG/pdf/2010_Wacquant_NEOLIBERAL_STATE_SF.pdf Online]
==External links==
*[http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/ses/info/publ/workfare.htm "Workfare Tendencies in Scandinavian Welfare Policies"]
{{Employment}}
[[Category:Welfare reform]]
[[Category:Welfare economics]]
[[Category:Forced labour]]
[[Category:Work relief programs]]