For an employment charity, a stronger hiring number raises a budget question but does not answer a person asking for help. ADP estimated 298,000 additional U.S. nonfarm private jobs in February 2017. In this March 10 retrospective, that payroll estimate offers context for trustees considering assistance commitments, not proof that a particular participant has found suitable work. [adp]

Canada’s Labour Force Survey makes the limits of a headline especially visible. February employment was little changed overall, with 105,000 more people working full time and 90,000 fewer working part time. Total hours worked were little changed over twelve months. The figures do not track individual transitions, and Canada’s survey cannot be treated as a measure of U.S. charity clients. [statcan]

Our stewardship proposal is an individual hours-and-income check before moving funds away from employment assistance. A worker could explain whether available hours cover essential needs and whether more hours are wanted. Ask about preferences without treating part-time work as a moral failure. Faith-affiliated and secular charities alike could record the unmet need, the participant’s priorities and a date for reconsidering support. [adp][statcan]

Keeping every commitment indefinitely would also constrain help for others. The proposed decision therefore weighs scarce funds against documented circumstances, rather than making either expansion or withdrawal automatic. Religious and nonreligious trustees may disagree about priorities; record that disagreement instead of attributing one rule to all traditions. These releases establish neither program effectiveness nor an end to individual need, and no charity practice or outcome is observed here. [adp][statcan]

Source documents

  1. ADP National Employment Report: Private Sector Employment Increased by 298,000 Jobs in Februaryhttps://mediacenter.adp.com/2017-03-08-ADP-National-Employment-Report-Private-Sector-Employment-Increased-by-298-000-Jobs-in-February
  2. Labour Force Survey, February 2017https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/170310/dq170310a-eng.htm