GETTING A HOLD ON WELFARE EXPENDITURES - THE QUEBEC EXPERIENCE WITH HOME VISITS

Each year since 1986, between 100,000 and 135,000 households of Quebec welfare recipients have been visited by welfare inspectors, without a ny prior evidence of fraud. Yet, we know very little about the relevan ce and meaning of such controls. Following a review of the Quebec deba te on this question, we try to evaluate the relevance of home visitati ons given the government's objectives, which focus on the reduction of errors and fraud. Since from this strictly administrative point of vi ew, the results appear dubious, we also analyse the broader political meaning of the operation.