The Failures of Traditional Welfare

The federal government’s antipoverty efforts failed to promote opportunity, self-sufficiency, and inclusion. Despite spending over $18 trillion on welfare since Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in 1964, the poverty rate remains close to where it began more than 40 years ago. The welfare state fails to put individuals on the path to financial independence and self-sufficiency.

More on The Failures of Traditional Welfare

Commentary

Why Conservatives Shouldn’t Support Federal Paid Parental Leave

By Vanessa Brown Calder. National Review (Online). December 14, 2018.

Cory Booker’s ‘Baby Bonds’ Wouldn’t Support a Savings Culture — It’s Just More Government Subsidies

By Ryan Bourne. Washington Examiner. December 10, 2018.

In Bernie Sanders vs. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Only Workers Lose

By Ryan Bourne. USA Today. September 16, 2018.

More Commentary

Cato Studies

Immigration and the Welfare State: Immigrant and Native Use Rates and Benefit Levels for Means-Tested Welfare and Entitlement Programs

By Alex Nowrasteh and Robert Orr. Immigration Research and Policy Brief No. 6. May 10, 2018.

The Work versus Welfare Trade-Off: Europe

By Michael D. Tanner and Charles Hughes. Policy Analysis No. 779. August 24, 2015.

The Pros and Cons of a Guaranteed National Income

By Michael D. Tanner. Policy Analysis No. 773. May 12, 2015.

More Cato Studies

Articles

Liberty, Responsibility, and Philanthropy: Individual Responsibility in a Free Society

Roger Pilon. Contemporary Philosophy. Vol. 27. No. 5. 1995.

Public Filings

Statement of Jenifer Zeigler Submitted to the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Committee on Ways and Means

By Jenifer Zeigler. Testimony. February 10, 2005.

Cato Reviews & Journals

Breaking the Barriers That Trap People in Poverty

Policy Report. November/December 2018.

Welfare: Savings Not Taxation

Roger Douglas and Robert MacCulloch. Cato Journal. Winter 2018.

The Case for a Targeted Criticism of the Welfare State

Leszek Balcerowicz and Marek Radzikowski. Cato Journal. Winter 2018.

More Reviews & Journals

Events

Statecraft and Liberal Reform in Advanced Democracies

Featuring Nils Karlson, John Samples, and Ian Vásquez. February 14, 2018. Book Forum.

The Welfare of Nations

Featuring James Bartholomew, Will Wilkinson, Sven R. Larson, & Michael D. Tanner. January 26, 2017. Book Forum.

In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State and Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew our Economy and Rebuild the American Dream

Featuring Michael D. Tanner. October 4, 2016. Book Forum.

More Events

Downsizing the Federal Government

Food Subsidies

By Chris Edwards. May 2016.

Employment and Training Programs: Ineffective and Unneeded

By Chris Edwards and Daniel Murphy. June 2011.

Failures of the Unemployment Insurance System

By Chris Edwards and George C. Leef. June 2011.

More Downsizing the Federal Government