Work tests for welfare recipients: The gap between the goal and the reality

In the past, work tests have largely failed to reduce the rising cost of welfare programs. Part of the reason has been a slippage between the objective and the way it has been implemented. The slippage, according to one major study, has been due to a number of causes: a failure to translate the objective into operating rules consistent with the objective; the difficulties of enforcing the requirement in the field; and the unwillingness to penalize innocent dependents of uncooperative welfare recipients. But more effective implementation may be possible through a number of measures.