Ron Haskins is a rare, unabashed optimist among the scholars, who as a group tend toward tentativeness. He declares that, thanks to welfare reform, the nation is on the verge of winning the war on poverty. His remarks are, perhaps, not surprising. Besides the caseload drop, he bases his rosy outlook on annual shrinkage in the ranks of poor children since 1994 and large jumps in employment among single moms since 1996. He doesn't think the economic boom solely explains these trends.
Politicians revel in the glory of the caseload drop.
The steep decline in Wisconsin has brought fame to Thompson. That means a family no longer enjoys a federal guarantee of aid just by virtue of being poor. Under that condition, any fool with a cold heart can reduce caseloads. The reduction may, in fact, be a troubling trend. The ultimate criteria for measuring welfare reform's success should be whether the well-being of children and families has improved.