In April 2001, the Legislative Audit Bureau of Wisconsin issued a 221-page report evaluating the success of the state's high profile welfare reform program, Wisconsin Works (a.k.a. W-2). The report finds that, despite the fact that the state spent more money on the program in its first three years than in previous years on the old AFDC system, only a small minority have found jobs that pay more...

Virtually rewriting how government assistance would be administered to those in need, Wisconsin's Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 has had a dramatic impact on all people previously eligible for federally administered Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). In particular, PRWORA and the subsequent Wisconsin Works, or W-2, program has mandated that no...

The Institute for Research on Poverty at University of Wisconsin-Madison held a welfare reform conference in March 1997. Both the summary and full proceedings of the conference are available. Note that the summary is available in Focus. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 was passed on August 22, 1996. The Act "changed the nation's welfare system into one...