Making Mothers “Work”

If you think of Wisconsin as a progressive pioneer in the development of social welfare policy, the first state to offer unemployment compensation, it pays to remember that it was also the home of Joseph McCarthy, who built his career by attacking the welfare state. The “Wisconsin Works” (or W-2) welfare statute is being touted as another example of pioneering social policy, but toward what end? Wisconsin’s “reform” is in the vanguard now, but federal policy is encouraging other states to follow.

New federal welfare legislation eliminates any entitlement to benefits, requires states to impose time limits and work requirements, and generally leaves the states with discretion, allocating federal funding...