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Seefeldt says that telling the poor they must get jobs does nothing to address actual job prospects
This feature looks at new requirements for residents of subsidized housing in Worcester, MA to participate in schooling or the work force. If residents do as they’re told, the rationale goes, they’ll receive intensive case management through the Better Life Program, get a job, earn some money, and move out of public housing. But if they can’t or won’t work or enroll in classes, they may be evicted from public housing, often the last bulwark between the very poor and homelessness. This story questions the effectiveness and ethics of for-your-own-good government coercion. Kristin Seefeldt warns: “Saying that you must work doesn’t do anything to address any labor-market problems that a particular area might be experiencing. And it doesn’t address people’s long-term prospects for getting jobs.”