Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

For Immediate Release - September 1, 1998
Contact: Kevin Keane (608) 266-8110

W-2 data table for July 1998

GOVERNOR HAILS W-2's FIRST YEAR AS REMARKABLE SUCCESS

Racine - One year to the day after Wisconsin became the first state to end welfare, Gov. Tommy G. Thompson today hailed Wisconsin Works as an "unprecedented success" that will only get stronger at helping families become self-sufficient.

Gov. Thompson, who returned to Racine where he unveiled the nation's first program to completely end welfare three years ago, said the newest figures show the W-2 caseload down to a record 10,875 families in July – a 68.4 percent reduction from the inception of W-2 on September 1, 1997. And it's a dramatic 89 percent drop from January 1987 when the governor began reforming welfare.

"W-2 is giving families real opportunity and real hope through work," Gov. Thompson said. "People are better off working under W-2 than under the apathetic welfare system. They have more money, they have more opportunity and they have greater self-esteem."

"W-2 is exceeding our most optimistic projections in helping families lead better lives," the governor added. "W-2 works."

Gov. Thompson said the strength of W-2 is its emphasis on work and its flexibility in addressing issues or concerns that arise – a stark contrast to the one-size-fits-all Aid to Families with Dependent Children welfare system. AFDC treated everyone the same and provided no means to address problems. W-2 allows families to receive individualized help in finding work and becoming self-sufficient, recognizing that people have different barriers to work that may require different solutions.

This flexibility made W-2 a remarkable success in its first year and will allow it to evolve into an even stronger program as the state helps the most difficult-to-place families, the governor said. For example, the governor already is making substantial improvements to its nationally recognized child care system and trying to do more in health care through Badger Care.

 Gov. Thompson said it's amazing that in a state of more than 5 million people, fewer than 11,000 remain on the W-2 caseload.

Gov. Thompson created W-2 to end AFDC – the last welfare check was printed in April – and put in place a system based on work and self-sufficiency. Those seeking public assistance will no longer be given cash without working for it. There are four rungs on the W-2 job ladder: unsubsidized work, subsidized trial jobs in the private sector, community service jobs and W-2 transitions for individuals with unique barriers to working.

W-2 supports its participants by helping them find work and then providing health care, child care, food stamps, transportation assistance, training, and employment and financial planning.

"W-2 shows us that people will succeed under a supportive program that rewards success instead of paying for failure," Gov. Thompson said. "W-2 is a more compassionate way to help families succeed than simply handing them a check once a month and forgetting about them."

Gov. Thompson credited broad public support – a recent poll showed that 87 percent of the state supports W-2 – for helping the program succeed. While AFDC was a bureaucratic, big government program, W-2 involves the entire community: employers, state and local government, faith-based and community-based organizations, and individual citizens.

"People care about helping their neighbors become full participants in their

community," Gov. Thompson said. "We offer a hand up to those who may be down."

In addition to the successful caseload numbers, Gov. Thompson reported these measurements of success:

The starting wage for people leaving cash assistance is $6.77 an hour - nearly one-third higher than the minimum wage of $5.25.

• On AFDC, the typical family was mired 30 percent below the federal poverty level. Even at a minimum wage job, that same family is 15 percent above poverty. And at the average $6.77 an hour, they are 25 percent above the poverty line even after paying their child care co-payment and social security taxes.

• Five counties - Green, Iron, Lafayette, Marinette, and Waushara - have no cash assistance W-2 cases. And 41 of the state's 72 counties have less than 10 cases.

• Of those leaving the rolls, more than two-thirds (about 70 percent) did not return to the program at any time for the next 15 months.

• And, 15 months after leaving welfare, nearly 40 percent were receiving no public assistance of any kind - neither Food Stamps nor Medicaid. (Since both remain poverty-based entitlements regardless of participation in W-2, that is an indication that families leaving welfare are better off.)
  
• Wisconsin taxpayers are saving $41 million per month in cash assistance payments compared to January 1987.