The Achievements and limitations of the U. S. Welfare Reform

미국 복지개혁의 성과와 한계

This study examines the socio-economic impacts of recent welfare reform in the United States. Based on the neo-conservative critique to the traditional public assistance system for low-income families, the 1996 welfare reform has given greater emphases on reducing welfare dependency and increasing work effort and self-sufficiency among welfare recipients. In particular, the welfare reform legislation instituted 60-month lifetime limits on cash assistance, expanded mandatory work requirements, and placed financial penalties for noncompliance. With the well-timed economic boom in the second half of the 1990s, the welfare reform seems to achieve considerable progress; welfare caseload has declined sharply to reach less than 50% of its 1994 peak, single mothers' labor force participation has increased substantially, and child poverty has decreased. In spite of these good signals, the welfare reform also has several potential problems. Many welfare leavers participate in the labor market, but not all (or most) of them. The economic well being of working welfare leavers did not increased significantly, because earnings increase was canceled out by parallel decrease in welfare benefits. Furthermore, most of working welfare leavers are employed in jobs with poor employment stability and low wages, making them highly vulnerable to frequent layoff, long-time joblessness, persistent poverty, and welfare recidivism. Another serious problem of the welfare reform is that a substantial number of welfare recipients are faced with extreme difficulties in finding jobs, because they have severe barriers to employment. The new welfare system with 5-year time limit can severely threaten the livelihoods of these people. The welfare reform presupposes that welfare recipients can achieve self-reliance by increasing their labor market activities. However, empirical evidences suggest that many people are unable to respond to the new, work-oriented welfare strategy. It may be a very difficult task to achieve both objectives of the welfare reform((1) providing adequate income security for low-income families and (2) promoting self-sufficiency) at the same time, because sometimes they are conflicting each other. With this in mind, a possible solution can be to distinguish welfare recipients into "(Very)-Hard-to-Employ" group and "(Relatively)-Ready-to-Work" group, based on elaborate examinations of a wide range of personal conditions. For the former group, the primary objective of welfare policies should be the first one(providing income security). For the "Ready-to-Work" group, follow-up services to promote job retention and advancement, as well as skill-training and job-search services, are very important. The U. S. experiences of the welfare reform provide some useful implications for newly developing Korean public assistance policies for the able-bodied low-income population.

본 연구는 1996년 미국 복지개혁의 성과와 한계를 분석하고 미국의 경험이 우리나라의 공공부조정책에 줄 수 있는 함의를 모색하고자 아는데 그 목적이 있다. 저소득층의 복지의존성을 줄이고 노동을 통한 자립을 강조하는 미국의 복지개혁은 공공부조의 수급기간을 제안하고 근로조건부를 강화하며 노동활동을 장려하는 여러 가지 강력한 조치들을 포함하고 있다. 때마침 이루어진 거시경제의 유례없는 호조에 힘입어 복지개혁은 공공부조 수급자의 획기적인 감소, 저소득편모가구의 노동활동 증가, 그리고 아동빈곤의 감소 등 몇 가지 긍정적인 변화를 이룩하였다. 그러나 저임금과 불안정안 고용지위로 인해 많은 공공부조 수급탈피자들이 실업의 위엄에 크게 노출되어 있는 가운데 여전히 빈곤상태에 놓여 있다. 특히, 노동활동을 강제하는 조치에도 불구하고 상당수의 저소득편모가구는 노동시장 진입을 가로막는 다양한 장애요인으로 인해 취업에 심각한 어려움을 겪고 있다. 저소득가구에 대한 소득보장과 자활의 성취라는 다소 상충되기도 하는 목표를 달성하기 위해서는 개개인이 처한 상환에 대한 세밀한 평가를 통해 노동활동 가능성을 종합적으로 판단하고 이를 바탕으로 개별적이고 포괄적인 공공부조 서비스가 제공되어야 할 것이다. 이러한 미국의 경험은 자활조건부 기초생활보장 수급을 도입한 지 얼마 되지 않은 우리나라의 공공부조정책에 유용한 함의를 줄 수 있을 것이다.