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Workfare in New Jersey: A Five-Year Assessment

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Promoting Productivity in the Public Sector

Part of the book series: Policy Studies Organization Series ((PSOS))

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Abstract

The initiatives of the Reagan Administration in the area of welfare reform have been orientated toward strengthening work requirements. This paper reviews the debate on the relative virtues of such ‘workfare’ and examines how successful these early workfare programs have been. Most evaluations of these programs have concluded that they were not successful in producing lasting changes in the labour market experience of participants or in reducing welfare rolls sufficiently to justify the resource costs of administering the programs.

The authors wish to express their gratitude to Lester Barenbaum, Steven Director and Neil Sheflin for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

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© 1988 Policy Studies Organization

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Englander, V., Englander, F. (1988). Workfare in New Jersey: A Five-Year Assessment. In: Kelly, R.M. (eds) Promoting Productivity in the Public Sector. Policy Studies Organization Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08885-0_5

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