workfare

[wuhrk-fair]

noun

1. a governmental plan under which welfare recipients are required to accept public-service jobs or to participate in job training.

workfare

/ ˈwɜːkˌfɛə /

noun

1. a scheme under which the government of a country requires unemployed people to do community work or undergo job training in return for social-security payments

Word History and Origins

Origin of workfare¹

First recorded in 1965–70; work + (wel)fare

Word History and Origins

Origin of workfare¹

C20: from _work + ( _wel ) _fare

Example Sentences

As an assistant pastor, Mr. Warnock publicly criticized the Giuliani administration’s implementation of a workfare program — which required welfare recipients to work for benefits — and made an impression on a number of elected officials himself, as well as on Mr. Butts.

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“They don’t fund landslides or losers,” Mr. Carney said of the group, calling it “a workfare effort, not a welfare group.”

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The reactionary version is workfare.

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Workfare came to serve as the main response to job loss.

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The JG should not devolve to either workfare or welfare … Workers can be fired for cause — with grievance procedures established to protect their rights, and with conditions on rehiring into the program.

Read more on Salon