Just Another Excuse?

“Katrina recently left her violent boyfriend when she was seven months pregnant. She applied for welfare and was told that she was eligible provided she went to three job sites per day looking for work. She traipsed up and down the streets of her small town with swollen ankles inquiring about employment when she was obviously very pregnant and traumatized by the recent violence in her life. She suspects her baby was born a month early because of this stress”. (Margaret Little Interview 4, Greater Toronto Area, May 1998)

Under the Workfare policies single mothers are increasingly expected to conduct job searches which they can prove. What is involved in these job searches often varies. According to Margaret Littles’ research, some women she spoke with were required to do three searches a day, others up to ten. Some of these women were suppose to go door-to-door and obtain signatures from companies as proof that they were looking. Others were required to make telephone calls and record the responses and dates. Interviews with anti-poverty advocates explained that “inadequate job searches” are the most common reasons given for cutting people off welfare. However, issues of childcare and transportation are not taken into consideration.

This requirement is also based on the false premises that single mothers just need an incentive to find work. However, many studies illustrate that this is not the case. For example, the largest study of welfare recipients in Ontario found that three quarters of single mothers were already looking for work (Orntein, 1995). Another study reveals that 15 percent of single mothers were already doing volunteer work before Workfare was implemented (Ontario Workfare Watch, “Broken Promises”, 1999). These studies reveal that single mothers were already looking for work, so what was the point and where is the evidence of the need for this labour force attachment policy?

For some, Workfare programs have actually restricted their ability to complete education and training that would result in stable and higher paying employment. Under Workfare policies financial support for post secondary education was eliminated in 1996. Currently, Workfare training is short term only and aimed at immediate entrance into the labour market, regardless of low wages and limited security. According to Little’s study many have had to drop out of post secondary education as a result of this policy change. One mother explains that she was one course away from a healthcare aid certificate when she had to begin her community placement, “they’re hiring healthcare aids at the hospital where I volunteer (as part of my workfare community placement) but I’m one course away. It is very frustrating”

Is workfare just another obstacle or excuse to deny people welfare? There seems to be no evidence to support the idea that people are poor because they are too lazy to find work. Could it be that workfare was just another way to recreate the poor, keeping a supply of people that are forced to work the jobs that no else wants?