Yitong Hao
T. H. Marshall’s theory of social citizenship has long provided a critical normative framework for evaluating citizens’ rights and responsibilities within welfare states. However, his permissive stance on work obligations has been criticized by workfare advocates who have championed work ethics. Since the late 20th century, workfare has played a significant role in welfare state reforms under neoliberal ideology, sparking renewed debates on balancing social rights with work duties. This paper returns to the lecture of Marshall to show that he maintained a sufficiently flexible view – recognizing contractual systems without endorsing mandatory work. It argues that workfare has overemphasized work’s goods while downplaying its bads, framing social rights as work-derived goods. Furthermore, China’s social assistance and social insurance programs with limited work requirements demonstrate the feasibility of decoupling social rights from labor obligations, providing a concrete non-Western example for the ongoing debate on the relationship between social rights and work obligations in Marshall’s citizenship theory.