Since the 1990s, urban unemployment has become a serious social problem in China. The real urban unemployment reached 16 million in 1999 and nine percent of the total urban population was affected by unemployment. In response to the social problem of unemployment, the Chinese government established a special welfare employment program targeted toward the elderly, needy, and hard-to-employment group to serve the public welfare in the communities. This book examined the welfare employment program recipients perspectives on employment and factors influencing their perspectives. Based on the findings of the study, a possible model of the welfare employment recipients perspectives and the influencing factors was tentatively established. The results generated policy implications for debate on the welfare employment program as well as research implications for future studies.

Lei Wu obtained her Ph.D. degree in Social Welfare at the University at Albany, State University of New York in 2010. She teaches social policy and research methods in the Department of Social Work, School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China. Her research interests include unemployment and work.