Question

3. Does welfare-to-work penalize poor women by forcing them to work outside the home? Do poor women have the same right to stay at home and care for their children as wealthier women? What about family values? Does forcing a poor mother to work “defamilize” her home? Does anyone have the right to receive assistance without working? Why should society help poor women stay at home with their children?

4. What are the two labor markets? Are there more than two labor markets? What types of jobs can you find in each of the labor markets, and what are the qualifications needed to enter each? Who is more likely to enter a primary labor market and why? Who is more likely to enter a secondary labor market and why?

Answer 1

3. The main aim of welfare to works programs is to provide skill training to employed and unemployed parents so that they can find work and support their families. Poor women in this scenario have a cruel choice. If they enroll for welfare to work programs, they inadvertently have to leave their home, ergo their children. They will have to make arrangements for someone else to care for their children while they are away. Keep in mind that they cannot afford hired help. The caregiver thus will have to be family, which is not always possible.

Compare this with wealthier women. They can afford hired help if they want to go out and work. They can also afford to stay at home and care for their children. They are endowed enough to simply decide to not work.

One could argue that this is inequality. Poor women do not have the same right to stay at home and care for their families as the wealthier women do. If they are to survive, they do not even have the choice. There definitely is a difference between a mother giving her child the love and affection they deserve vis a vis someone else raising them. We can't go on to the extreme of saying that a working mother defamilizes her home because it is as much the father's responsibility. It comes to choice - and poor women are devoid of that choice.

Does anyone have the right to receive assistance without working? Yes, maybe veterans, disabled, homeless, and the old. But able bodied people who can go and earn a living for themselves and their families should have no right to it. Society should make sure that there is an ecosystem that supports the choice of women - be it staying at home or working.

4. There are different types of labor markets. Primary labor market is the one that consists of high paying, stable jobs. They come with benefits such as social security, healthcare, longer lasting careers, etc. These jobs require formal education and asks for the employees to be skilled in one trade or the other. These are white collar jobs like teaching, accounting, law, etc.

This is in contrast to the secondary labor market which consist of low wage paying jobs and temporary careers. This market has high turnover and usually part time or temporary work. Secondary jobs can be performed by high school graduates or college going people. Service sector jobs or light manufacturing are considered to be secondary activities. An example could be the guy who takes you Starbucks order!