Profits in Programs? A Modest Proposal for Welfare Employment

In one important respect, the Work Incentive (WIN) program is typical of other manpower training efforts and of many government service programs: it is a failure. It was begun in 1968 as a major effort to restore relief recipients to economic independence and thereby cut the cost of burgeoning welfare rolls.1 In pursuit of these objectives, the program attempts to provide its clients with education, vocational training, and supportive services such as child care and counseling. The results have been disappointing. While in the program, clients spend much of their time in a holding status, waiting for a place in a training program, waiting for counseling, waiting for placement, waiting for something to happen. Many drop out, and those who complete the program have little success in obtaining and retaining employment

Business · Economics · Labour economics · Market economy · Public economics · Welfare · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics