Looking back at the US experience, Irish lawmakers had better be very careful how they word the replacement language in their referendum, lest it lead to welfare cuts and work requirements. After all, those work requirements were a consequence of, and enabled by, changing expectations around a mother's role -- the initial goal of welfare was to make it unnecessary for single mothers to work outside the home.
Looking back at the US experience, Irish lawmakers had better be very careful how they word the replacement language in their referendum, lest it lead to welfare cuts and work requirements. After all, those work requirements were a consequence of, and enabled by, changing expectations around a mother's role -- the initial goal of welfare was to make it unnecessary for single mothers to work outside the home.
Unless, of course, that's the goal.
therein lies the sticking point - how to walk that tightrope that brings equality, without the disadvantage