SWLF 3105 (Week 14) Today

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SWLF 3105 (Week 14)Todays theme Workfare

• Two important thoughts as we begin
• Is workfare really about work?
• If yes, what kind of work are we directing
  workfare participants towards? If no, what is
  really at issue here?

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Agenda for this week

• Update on proposed field trip for next semester.
  400 approved! Now, we need to set a date, and
  figure out what everyones willing to pay to
  supplement costs.
• Paper 3 any questions?
• Analysis of Week 14 readings (Course pack, Vol.
  2 pp. 63-84)

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1-2. A description and comparative assessment of
workfare programs

• Workfare programs generally involve an array of
  incentives to encourage or compel SA recipients
  to perform certain tasks or retraining exercises
  in exchange for benefits.
• Workfare policy has differed by jurisdiction. In
  each case, however, a needs test forms an
  essential component to encouraged or forced to
  enrol in workfare programs. The partial or
  complete loss of benefits is posed as a penalty
  for non-participation.

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1-2. A description and comparative assessment of
workfare programs

• Generally speaking, workfare programs operate
  under the assumption that the SA users are lazy
  and will avoid paid employment where possible.
• Workfare placements often do not focus on skill
  development, and are temporary in nature.
• As a result, those without requisite skills to
  leave workfare are trapped in revolving programs.
  
• Access to PSE remains the most statistically
  proven method to improve job prospects.

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1-2. A description and comparative assessment of
workfare programs

• Access to PSE remains the most statistically
  proven method to improve job prospects.
• Workfare programs have historically proven to be
  expensive and difficult to manage.
• Workfare placements have also tended to create a
  downward pressure on existing wages.

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The failure of workfare in Quebec

• Quebecs experiment with workfare
• Created as a voluntary program, but benefits
  would be reduced for SA users not participating
• The laziness assumption was in effect assumed
  problem was motivation, not a lack of decent
  jobs.
• Concerns raised around corporate welfare (PAIE),
  and program relevancy for most SA users.

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4. Non-profits as guardians of the poor

• CIT this feature of Quebecs workfare system put
  non-profit groups in an awkward position.
• SA workfare placements get 35 hour/wk jobs, but
  most frequently were cycled back into EI and SA.
• Serious implications for existing jobs this was
  indicated in home care work.
• Concerns around social justice organizations
  offering a fig leaf for a lack of decent jobs.

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5-6. SA dependence and workfare

• Recall from last week
• Where does the impression of an easy life on
  welfare come from?
• The 1995 cut in SA in Ontario had enormous public
  support (gt70). Why?
• Are the benefit levels involved with SA enough to
  avoid dependence?
• Workfare is described by proponents as an active
  (and not passive) form of assistance for the poor.

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7. Swanson and social policy experiments

• Where does Swansons criticism come from?
• AB case reviewed last week demonstrated the
  dilemmas of tracking success in SA reform
• A similar pattern was evident in NB Works.
• What is not addressed by re-fashioning SA via
  Workfare? (GM handout on job queues in 01-1995)

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8. A crisis of SA fraud?

• Recall from last week
• The reality of welfare fraud is one of the most
  overblown issues in public policy.
• 3 of the existing SA caseload, and often
  overblown in the way the data is counted.
• This is far less than comparable cases of tax
  evasion or white collar crime. But why do we
  hear so much about it?
• Are we selective in our had of fraudulent acts?
  Is the anger felt against existing SA fraud
  illegitimate?

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9. SA as a trap

• Again, from last week
• Is SA is a low-income trap for poor Canadians?
• Where do we assess the blame for this trap?

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10. Obligation and employment

• As a society, are we providing the same pressure
  on creating decent jobs as we do in pushing a
  strong work ethic?
• Do employer incentives arrived at through
  workfare help or hurt in this regard?
• Is a decent job a right of citizenship?

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11. The psychology of poverty

• This argument deals with the daily pressures of
  life on SA.
• The pressure of little money for extras.
• Any extra expense becomes a crisis.
• How do we address the emotional trauma brought on
  by experience with SA?

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12. On training as the solution

• For Swanson, training is a euphemism for work
  harder in searching for any employment.
• The focus here on individual aptitude, and not
  wider economic concerns.
• Despite some skill-based shortages, Canada as a
  society is highly trained.

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13. Swanson take the rich off welfare

• Assess Swansons wealth policy challenge
• Is this an effective tactic in raising awareness
  about gaps in research? Why or why not?

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14. Mackie and Workfare Watch

• Mackies article gives voice to critics of
  workfare programs.
• What do critics in this article conclude that
  workfare is a waste of resources?
• What are the implications of these findings?