Goldberg G S
Center for Social Policy, Adelphi University School of Social Work, Garden City, New York 11530, USA.
J Public Health Policy. 1997;18(3):302-24.
Jobs for All at decent wages is not the only strategy for reducing poverty and economic inequality, but it is more desirable and more consonant with American values than a primary strategy of direct income redistribution through government benefits. To make jobs the primary strategy for people of working age, however, is not to overlook the need for certain types of income support in good times and in bad, and the important economic functions of the welfare state. Current welfare "reform" poses as a work strategy but is the very antithesis of jobs for all because it creates job seekers rather than jobs and will increase unemployment and lower wages. Economic and social benefits of full employment are identified, and criticisms of the strategy--that many current jobs are risky, boring and poorly paid--are addressed. The abiding and new obstacles to full employment are acknowledged, their seriousness assessed, and means for overcoming them proposed. The author concludes that the obstacles to jobs for all are primarily political rather than economic, and shows how the National Jobs for All Coalition is attempting to overcome them and to build a new movement for economic justice.
提供体面工资的全民就业并非减少贫困和经济不平等的唯一策略，但比起通过政府福利进行直接收入再分配的主要策略，它更可取且更符合美国价值观。然而，要让就业成为适龄工作人群的主要策略，并不意味着忽视在经济好坏不同时期提供某些类型收入支持的必要性以及福利国家的重要经济功能。当前的福利“改革”打着工作策略的幌子，却与全民就业背道而驰，因为它造就了求职者而非创造了就业机会，还会加剧失业并压低工资。文中指出了充分就业的经济和社会效益，并回应了对该策略的批评——即当前许多工作存在风险、枯燥乏味且薪资微薄。承认了实现充分就业存在的持续和新的障碍，评估了其严重性，并提出了克服这些障碍的方法。作者得出结论，全民就业的障碍主要是政治性的而非经济性的，并展示了全民就业全国联盟如何试图克服这些障碍并推动一场新的经济正义运动。
