workfare

Scheme in which the long-term unemployed, in return for welfare payments, are required to undergo either skills training or work, in jobs supported by state subsidy or in community-service activities. Developed by right-wing economists in the USA during the 1980s, workfare seeks to end welfare dependency and to re-establish individual responsibility.

Initially tried in a number of US states, notably Wisconsin, workfare was the key principle behind the 1996 US federal welfare reforms which, with the threat of a loss of benefits after two years, led to a sharp drop in welfare recipients. All US states now have welfare-to-work programmes. The UK Labour government's Welfare to Work programme, launched in 1997, was influenced by workfare. It encourages the long-term unemployed to undergo skills training and to take on subsidized jobs, but falls short of compulsion. The scheme has also been tried in Australia.