Chapter 5: Profits and Perverse Incentives

The Uncertain Hour

Marketplace

Government, News

4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Antoine Dukes is a natural born salesman. And when he started working for a for-profit welfare company, he figured it was a good way to put his skills to work helping needy Americans find jobs that would get them back on their feet.

But when he tried to avoid sending people to minimum wage jobs, something happened that made him realize that these welfare companies are rewarded with taxpayer dollars for getting welfare recipients into just about any job, even if the job would not support their family and would leave them still needing government help to make ends meet.

In this episode, host Krissy Cark sheds light on this opaque business model — and has a frank conversation with the founder of America Works, one of the first for-profit welfare-to-work companies in the country.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Chrissy.
0:01.4	Before this episode starts, I want to thank you for listening to the uncertain hour.
0:05.5	This season is coming to an end, and I need to remind you that we are public media.
0:09.8	We rely on donations from you to continue doing this kind of rigorous, long-form journalism.
0:15.7	Please give generously today at Marketplace.org-give-tuh.
0:20.8	We've also got a link in the show notes now onto the episode.
0:24.7	Hey, it's Chrissy.
0:26.0	We want to know a little bit more about our listeners.
0:29.2	So we're asking you to complete a short, anonymous survey.
0:32.4	It takes less than five minutes.
0:34.5	Go to Marketplace.org-survey to complete the survey.
0:38.8	You do all of us at the uncertain hour a huge favor by filling it out.
0:42.5	Thanks so much.
0:46.2	For a while now, I've been listening to shareholder earnings calls from a multinational,
0:51.4	multi-billion dollar, for-profit welfare company called Maximus.
0:55.8	Greetings.
0:56.3	And welcome to the Maximus fiscal 2018 first quarter conference call.
1:00.3	At this time, all participants are in illicit only mode.
1:03.0	Maximus is one of a few for-profit companies that operate welfare offices and Wisconsin,
1:08.4	and throughout the country.
1:10.0	It's the company I visited at the start of this season.
1:13.5	Shareholder earnings calls are not the most edge of your seat listening.
	...

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