WORK VERSUS WELFARE IN THE ETHNIC TRANSFORMATION OF A PHILADELPHIA LABOR-MARKET

Objective. This article examines the role of public assistance in the ethnic transformation of an inner-city labor market. Some policy analy sts argue that existing social-welfare programs have had a synergistic effect that hits created a ''culture'' that rejects regular employmen t in favor of welfare payments supplemented with irregular or informal employment. This article analyzes data on African Americans and Cambo dian refugees living in Philadelphia's poor inner-city neighborhoods, where individuals are recruited to work as day-haul farmworkers. Afric an Americans dominated this labor force for decades until the Cambodia n refugees arrived in the 1980s and became the major element of this w orkforce. The objective of this article is to determine whether public assistance income contributes to the rejection of day-haul farmwork. Methods. Data for this study come from samples of Cambodian and Africa n American residents of inner-city Philadelphia. The surveys were carr ied out in neighborhoods that were the main sources of day-haul farmwo rkers. Trends in farmwork, nonfarm employment, and public assistance a re examined to answer key questions arising from recent discussions of the impact of public assistance on employment. Results. The data pres ented in this article show a trend toward increasing reliance on multi ple income sources in the African American community. Cambodian patter ns are different because of alternative household structure. Cambodian households tend to diversify activities, whereas African American ind ividuals tend to engage in diverse activities. Conclusions. The result s of this study suggest that conservative welfare reform proposals adv ocating ''workfare'' are redundant. The findings of this study support the argument that persons are compelled to earn income to supplement inadequate public assistance income. How they do this, however, depend s on social factors like household structure, which are often ignored by critics of social welfare programs.