Case for a Job Guarantee

• Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Bard College: The Case for a Job Guarantee

The Case for a Job Guarantee

• JG defined:

        "[A] public policy that provides an employment opportunity on standby
        to anyone looking for work, no matter their personal circumstances or
        the state of the economy." (1)

• Focus on 2 aspects of economic insecurity:

  • Unemployment (intermittent or long-term)

  • Poorly paid employment (precarious and unequal)

• A policy of care

        "... one that fundamentally rejects the notion that people in economic 
        distress, communities in disrepair, and an environment in peril are the 
        unfortunate but unavoidable collateral damage of a market economy." (3)

• Note that values shape the policy recommendation