The muddled maths of welfare-to-work

TWELVE men and women are engaged in animated discussion in a Marriott hotel meeting room. In front of them is a white flip chart; they sit round a table strewn with empty coffee cups. At a glance, it could be any corporate strategy session in America. In fact, these men and women are on welfare. Several are homeless; some are only recently free of drugs. They are in the third week of “Pathways to Independence”, an intensive training programme run by Marriott International.