WHEN WORK DOESN'T WORK

Abstract

Mandatory workfare has been the centerpiece of welfare reform in this decade. In 1992-94, there was a pitched legislative battle over mandatory workfare in Vermont. Feminist organizations mobilized to oppose the mandatory work requirement, producing data to substantiate the claims that women's jobs did not pay enough to purchase basic needs for their families, that unemployment remained a serious problem for single mothers, and that in states where workfare had already been adopted, it did not raise families out of poverty. Vermont's original bill was made less punitive for welfare recipients in some significant respects as a result of the debate.