Book Forum 

# *The Human Cost of Welfare: How the System Hurts the People It’s Supposed to Help*

(Praeger, 2016)

##### Watch the Event 

Download:

[ 

Video 

](https://fastly-unsigned-us-east-1-prod.brightcovecdn.com/media/v1/pmp4/static/clear/6039378657001/01aea860-57b3-46cb-a66d-beac617dc506/4f0027a0-6d86-4d48-a418-2740eff3bf57/main.mp4) 

[ 

Video 

](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2016/cbf-03-28-16.mp4) 

[ 

Audio 

](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2016/cbfa-03-28-16.mp3) 

Join the conversation on X using [\#CatoEvents](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoEvents). Follow [@CatoInstitute](https://x.com/catoinstitute) on X to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.

Date and Time 

March 28, 2016 12 - 1:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Hayek Auditorium 

Share This Event 

##### Featuring 

Featuring the authors **Phil Harvey**, Chief Sponsor, DKT Liberty Project; and **Lisa Conyers**, Director of Policy Studies, DKT Liberty Project; moderated by **Michael Tanner**, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute. 

[[![Media Name: human-cost-welfare-cover.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/optimized/public/images/human-cost-welfare-cover.jpg?itok=DhReHX1c)](/sites/cato.org/files/images/human-cost-welfare-cover.jpg)](http://www.amazon.com/The-Human-Cost-Welfare-Supposed/dp/1440845344?tag=catoinstitute-20)

Every year, federal, state, and local governments spend nearly $1 trillion to fight poverty, yet millions of Americans remain trapped in poverty with little hope for the future. Could the welfare system itself be part of the problem? Phil Harvey and Lisa Conyers make the case that our current welfare system has failed the poor, hurting the very people it is supposed to help. They suggest that good intentions are not enough and that if we truly want to reduce poverty, we need to understand the limits of government and radically reform our approach to welfare.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).