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Welfare, Work Requirements, and Dependant‐Care
Author(s) -
Anderson Elizabeth
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of applied philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.339
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1468-5930
pISSN - 0264-3758
DOI - 10.1111/j.0264-3758.2004.00279.x
Subject(s) - reciprocity (cultural anthropology) , presumption , work (physics) , economic justice , welfare , law and economics , sociology , subject (documents) , core (optical fiber) , economics , law , political science , computer science , social science , mechanical engineering , library science , engineering , telecommunications
This article considers the justice of requiring employment as a condition of receiving public assistance. While none of the main theories of justice prohibits work requirements, the arguments in their favour are weak. Arguments based on reciprocity fail to explain why only means‐tested public benefits should be subject to work requirements, and why unpaid dependant care work should not count as satisfying citizens’ obligations to reciprocate. Arguments based on promoting the work ethic misattribute recipients’ nonwork to deviant values, when their core problem is finding steady employment consistent with supporting a family and meeting dependant care responsibilities. Rigid work requirements impose unreasonable costs on some of the poor. A welfare system based on a rebuttable presumption that recipients will work for pay, conjoined with more generous work supports, would promote justice better than either unconditional welfare or strict requirements [1].