NYC Ending "Workfare"?

For John, BLUF:  So, what is the solution for those out of work, a growing percent of our population?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Hot Air we have a post on the Mayor of New York wishing to reform welfare, or workfare as it is known.  Workfare is an approach brought in by then Mayor Rudi Gulliani. The article is headlined Bill de Blasio moves to eliminate workfare in NYC.  The Hot Air pseudonym is "Jazz Shaw"— or maybe that is his read name.

It starts out like this:

Big Apple Mayor Bill de Blasio apparently has some big plans. One of them, only now bubbling to the surface, is to revamp the city’s welfare system. It seems that the idea of asking able bodied individuals receiving taxpayer funded cash support to work as part of the deal is offensive to enlightened sensibilities.

That lede linked to a New York Times article, with this paragraph:

About 25 percent of people who are placed in jobs by the Human Resources Administration return to the welfare rolls within a year, city statistics show. About 60 percent of able-bodied welfare recipients lack a high school diploma, a significant barrier to employment.

But, back to the Hot Air article, here are the last two paragraphs:

Workfare was never designed to “shame” anyone. It was developed to assist people who had spent a long time – for some, their entire adult lives – trapped in the welfare system in transitioning to a new style of life where going out to work and earning a living every day became a normal way of life. And yes, to a certain degree at least, it was also constructed as an incentive to seek regular employment by making welfare less attractive. And it worked. It dramatically slashed the welfare roles and expanded the work force during a time when the economy was booming and jobs were plentiful for those who sought them.

You have to wonder at the timing of this, as well. It’s funny how this is cropping up right after the elections. Do you think it’s possible that the Democrats knew that such things would outrage many working class voters and remind them of what they get when they elect a lot of Democrats? Anyway, assuming that the Mayor gets this all pushed through, it will prove an interesting social experiment for the rest of the nation to observe. Sadly, when it almost surely fails, it will be the low income workers of New York City – as well as all the taxpayers – who pay the price.

Wikipedia has a short article on Workfare, where it notes that the term first appeared in 1968, introduced by Mr James Charles Evers.  Mr Evers, Brother of Medgar Evans, has run for Governor and US Senate as an Independent.

Then there is this Kindle recommendation from the InstaPundit—Punch Your Inner Hippie:  Cut Your Hair, Get a Job, and Make America Awesome Again

Yes, we need to be doing something as a nation.  There are too many without the education and the social skills to get and hold a job.  There may even be cultural differences and cultural barriers.  We need to fix that.  Then we need to provide the jobs.   My Father told me about a program that was being run at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, in 1970, wherein Chicanos from San Pedro were hired in as trainees, taught a work skill and taught the culture of work.  Problem was, when they finished their year as a trainee, there was no work for them and they were laid off.  Eventually the shipyard was shut down and everyone was laid off.  Bad.

What we should want is to maximize the number of taxpayers in this Great Nation.

Hat tip to Maggie's Farm.

Regards  —  Cliff