rs on whether or not an inherent right to employment exists. The right to employment asserts that it is society's duty to assure that its able-bodied, adult citizens who are capable of employment can exercise this right. The right to employment is most relevant in societies where the government is the only employer. In the United States, the government is one of many employers and given the fact that the U.S. economy is market-based it would be impossible to recognize the right of employment in a free-enterprise system: "In the United States, no one has a right to any particular job or position. Even the fact that one is the most capable person for a position does not give one the right to it."
The right to employment is based on the right to work. Thus a distinction must be made between employment and work. Employment implies a relationship between employer and employee in which wages are paid for services performed. In contrast, even individuals who are unemployed work, e.g., the housewife who cares for her family or the farmer who tends the agricultural goods that sustain her household.
Those who argue in favor of the right to work base their contentions on three basic rights: the right to life, the right to development, and the right to respect. The right to work is critical to the right to life because an individual must work to sustain his or her needs: "The right so derived is a negative, not a positive, right." If an individual is deprived of work, then his or her existence is threatened. The right to work is important to development because work helps individuals to grow, physically and mentally. The right to work is crucial to the right to respect because society stigmatizes those who are deemed unproductive. This right assumes that work empowers the individual to make a contribution to society, thereby enhancing self-esteem. Society uses such terms as the "idle rich" or "freeloaders" to describe tho...