A Critical Appraisal of the Us Workfare Program: Policy Implications for the Korean Public Assistance Program

Abstract

This study aims to understand the nature of workfare, a keyword in recent debates on social welfare reform. Workfare, ore a work requirement for receiving public assistance benefit, is understood as a concept containing neoliberal ideas in the restructuring of the welfare state. However, different people interpret the concept diferently. Liberal or leftwing intellectuals regard it as a means to empower the poor (i.e. rehabilitative-empowering workfare). As the political right surge in the political society, the nature of workfare programs tend to slip into deterrent workfare in the US, culminating in the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996. This study assesses the new law and seeks to understand the Korean public assistance program(i.e. the National Basic Livelihood Security Scheme, NBLSS) in light of the US experience. It argues that the workfare element of the NBLSS is less deterrent than the US PRWORA, and thus that empowering workfare is a viable option in the development of the Korean public assistance programs.