This article examines whether current proposals that “reward work over welfare” by continuing the shift in AFDC from a program that subsidizes the private, familial caregiving activities of impoverished mothers to a program that subsidizes their low-wage employment will aid AFDC recipients in bringing their families out of poverty. The research presented here, based on the US Bureau of the Census’ Survey of Income and Program Participation, shows that the kind of intermittent jobs that AFDC recipients are likely to obtain do not provide the earnings necessary to keep their families out of poverty, without additional income support. The research further suggests that because the Earned Income Tax Credit, the major program to supplement wages, most benefits full-time, full-year workers and does not take into account women’s caregiving activities and their family-related work absences, most recipients will not be better off as a result of welfare reform proposals. Alternative income support programs, such as expanded Unemployment Insurance and Temporary Disability Insurance, that provide for all the sources of earning losses common to single mothers will be needed to bring families out of poverty, if AFDC benefits become time-limited. Additional strategies such as reforming the low-wage labor market, including its race and gender bias, and augmenting AFDC are also suggested. These policies, taken together, can benefit AFDC recipients (and other low-wage working mothers) as both workers and as caregivers.