No Work for Welfare in CA

Cue the hyperventilating about dependency and free riders: California, in an effort to save money, has suspended work requirements for some of its public assistance recipients for the next 17 months.  Never mind that its welfare-to-work program will become even more stringent in 2011, and that it cannot even afford to subsidize the critical child care needed for recipients to work in the first place.  Layabouts will be getting rich off your tax dollars, without earning a dime!  Shiftless miscreants.

Oh, what's that now?  What are we seeing in Fresno, one of the first places to implement the new, less expensive policy?  "Belying stereotypes, only about 10 percent of those who could be exempted from the work requirements — and supporting aid like child care — chose to do so in the first month."  Turns out, people like receiving job prep and trying to play an active role in society!  Let's try to remember that when we crank up the wailing about welfare queens despite the fact that "opting out" will become "mandatory" in the future due to CA's insane budget realities.

Honestly, until we make higher education much more affordable, provide living wages for everyone, and mprove gender equity in society, these adjustments are more reasonable and humane than the last dozen years of welfare policy:

Parents with special hardships or the youngest babies have always been exempt from work requirements in California, but now two large groups making up one-third or more of all applicants can also opt out: single parents with a child age 1 to 2, or those with two children under 6.

Basically, California's instituted European style family leave policies for parents on public assistance.  Can I get some of that?

(Because the Europeans also have the best protests, photo of UK protest by LabourYouth)