The Cato Institute challenges the conventional wisdom that welfare can be reformed, arguing instead for the end of a welfare system that has bred dependence and despair while creating a permanent American underclass. In 1996, Cato published The End of Welfare: Fighting Poverty in the Civil Society by Michael Tanner, the department's director, that set out Cato's argument for abolishing government social welfare programs and replace them with a more vigorous system of private charity. Tanner also appeared widely in the media and testified before several congressional committees, helping to shape the 1996 Welfare Reform Act.

Cato's seminal study "The Work vs. Welfare tradeoff: An Analysis of the Total Level of Welfare Benefits by State" has become one of the most widely cited welfare studies of the past decade and is generally considered the most comprehensive discussion of how welfare discourages work.

In August 2000, Cato released "Four Years of Welfare Reform: A Progress Report," detailing the new law's perpetuation of "supplemental dependence" and failure to stem out-of-wedlock childbearing. The report has been an important resource for those skeptical of the current reform rhetoric and interested in advancing preventive solutions to generational welfare dependence.

In an upcoming Policy Analysis, Cato analyst Lisa Oliphant sets forth both the philosophical and practical case against government teenage pregnancy prevention programs, and argues instead for dismantling the country's dependency-inducing welfare system. Also forthcoming is a critical look by Cato scholar Doug Bandow at social-service partnerships between the government and faith-based community under the Charitable Choice clause of the 1996 welfare law.

Cato continues to monitor the implementation of welfare reform and press for a more comprehensive approach to fighting poverty in America--an approach centered on individual responsibility and private charity.

Focal Points

Welfare Reform. The 1996 Welfare Reform Act was one of the most significant pieces of social welfare legislation in more than 30 years. Cato scholars will continue to track its implementation and study areas where it has succeeded and failed. At the same time, the Cato Institute recognizes that the legislation was only the first step on the road to true welfare reform. Cato scholars will continue to push for additional reform and the eventual elimination of all federal social welfare programs.

The Civil Society Alternative. Cato scholars will show how private sector alternatives can more effectively provide for the poor than can government welfare programs. The Cato Institute will highlight successful private efforts to deal with the problems of the poor in our society and will investigate how government policies can encourage or discourage private sector action.

Breaking Barriers to Prosperity. Far too much of America's anti-poverty effort has been devoted to making poverty more comfortable and not enough to creating the conditions that make it possible to get out of poverty. While government can do little to actually create prosperity, the sad fact is that government policies and programs are often the biggest barrier to getting out of poverty. Cato scholars will investigate how government policies, from taxes to education to business regulation, act as a barrier to entrepreneurship and job creation.