ABSTRACT
In the United States the relationship between work and welfare has received much attention in recent years from scholars and policy-makers alike. In 1967 the Work Incentive Program (WIN) was established to increase the employability of welfare recipients. Recent initiatives in WIN have centred on providing job-search instruction rather than on providing employment and training services. A primary objective of workfare is to distinguish individuals who need public assistance and are willing to work, from individuals who need public assistance due to a preference for leisure or an unwillingness to work. Incentive effects may be examined using an income-leisure framework from the theory of consumer choice. In the case of a constant work requirement, the income-leisure frontier shifts to a left by the amount of time spent in a workfare job.
