One Year On: Tracking the Experiences of Current and Former Welfare Recipients in Toronto

Despite large welfare caseload declines in Ontario in recent years, little is known about the longer-term circumstances of people who leave welfare or remain on a much-changed system. This paper reports on a second round of qualitative interviews with current and former workfare participants in Toronto. The findings demonstrate how the lives of most remain marked by poverty, hunger and uncertainty, and reveal contradictions between the realities of their daily lives and the government's "work-first" strategy. Rather than "one size fits all," the respondent experiences suggest the need for different pathways to sustainable employment, as well as recognition that for some the labour market is an unlikely destination. (C) 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.