Newfoundland’s Failed Welfare Reform
In his latest column on Newfoundland public policy, AIMS Fellow Peter Fenwick tells the story of how social welfare advocates in the province stymied attempts to return welfare recipients to the workforce, despite compelling international evidence that such welfare reform is a powerful aid in reintegrating otherwise marginalized members of our society. Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair often argues that leaving people at home on welfare is to isolate them and bar them from participating in society. His reforms and those tried in the US have eliminated much of that exclusion and have given people the strongest incentive to get back on their feet. But vocal lobbying by powerful interest groups likely has prevented such policy reform from helping thousands of Newfoundlanders from making a successful transition from welfare to work.