Make-work job
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A make-work job is a job that has less immediate financial benefit to the economy than the job costs to support. Make-work jobs are similar to workfare but are publicly offered on the job market and have otherwise normal employment requirements (workfare jobs, in contrast, may be handed out to a randomly selected applicant or have special requirements such as continuing to search for a non-workfare job).
Make-work jobs are considered to be harmful[by whom?] by some economists, as they place people in less productive sectors of the economy. However, some ultra-right wing thinkers, such as those associated with the Nazi party[citation needed], have believed that make-work jobs could be a preferable alternative to welfare programs, though this thesis has never been backed up by any long-term empirical data.[1]
As a part of New Deal, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration provided $500 million for relief operations by states and cities, while the short-lived CWA (Civil Works Administration) gave localities money to operate make-work projects in 1933-34.[2]
In a socialist nationalised economy, several of the nationalized sectors of work can be considered as make work jobs, whereby the industry being worked in does not necessarily make a profit, but is considered essential by the state to the national interest. In practice, however, the phrase "make-work" is more commonly only used for work that is both of negative financial benefit and also not considered to be of any other particular benefit to the national interest.
See also
References
- ^ King, William. "Make-Work Jobs".[dead link]
- ^ David Edwin Harrell; et al. (2005). Unto A Good Land: A History Of The American People. Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 902–. ISBN 0802837182.
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