You must live in a different country than I do. I live in the US. I've never heard of or read of any mother told to go to work by a family court judge. Not since 1978 anyway.
Ever heard of welfare reform? The person left to care for the child is also required to go to work and put the child(ren) in daycare.
The least an unemployed parent could do is provide the childcare while the other parent works for pay. That way, more of the earned money AND the welfare would go to support the child instead of be spent on out-of-home childcare costs.