Why not simply add work requirements to existing benefits programs (like TANF, SNAP, or, as has been recently proposed, Medicaid in the US)?
The job guarantee is fair work, not workfare. Requiring work to receive benefits goes against the job guarantee principle of voluntary choice of employment.
Requiring people to work for their benefits in an economy that uses unemployment as a policy tool (i.e. NAIRU) is cruel and only serves the purpose of denying essential benefits, not of creating more employment. It is also at odds with the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
An array of public policies including a voluntary job guarantee are needed to provide comprehensive economic security.
Back to all FAQs