Labour Obligation, Justice and the Foundations of Social Security Law

Abstract

In this paper I argue that normative questions in social law are in need of a more philosophical approach. This is particularly true for the evaluation of Work First projects. Therefore, I propose to evaluate Work First projects from the perspective of the reciprocity principle as it is deployed in the work of John Rawls and Stuart White. While Rawls’ interpretation of the reciprocity principle seems to reject recent Dutch jurisprudence on a Work-First arrangements, instead White’s approach affirms these arrangements, on the condition that a collective participation fund with individual drawing rights is created. This participation fund could be modeled on the Life Course Arrangement.

Keywords: Reciprocity, Rawls, Social Assistance, Work First, Basic income

JEL Classification: K31