Ending Public Assistance: The Transformation of US Public Assistance Policy into Labour Policy

Abstract

A convincing argument can be made that US income maintenance policy would be better housed under the Secretary of Labour than with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Begun almost 30 years ago, the transformation of public assistance policy into labour policy reached fruition with the passage of the groundbreaking Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), a bill that would dramatically transform the face of the American welfare state. Despite the inclusion of important welfare policies, the PRWORA was essentially labour policy clothed in welfare terminology. This article examines the metamorphosis of public assistance policy into labour policy and proposes alternatives to promote durable labour force attachment as well as ways to ease former recipients into the workforce through equity-based labour policies.