# Welfare

## A Reading List on Welfare

Prepared by Michael Tanner

### Read This First

- ***[The Poverty of Welfare: Fighting Poverty in Civil Society](https://www.amazon.com/Poverty-Welfare-Helping-Others-Society/dp/1930865414)*** by Michael Tanner (Cato Institute, 2003) 
Looks at welfare after the 1996 reforms, and lays out a comprehensive case for replacing government welfare entirely with private charity.

### On the Failure of the Welfare State 

- ***[Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950–1980](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&camp=1789&tag=catoinstitute-20&creative=9325&path=tg/detail/-/0465042333/qid=1118858597/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1?v=glance%26s=books%26n=507846)*** by Charles Murray (Basic Books, 1984) 
The seminal book in the field; the one that started the modern welfare reform debate. Some of the figures might be dated, but the reasoning is as fresh as ever.
- ***[Tyranny of Kindness: Dismantling the Welfare System to End Poverty in America](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&camp=1789&tag=catoinstitute-20&creative=9325&path=tg/detail/-/0871135787/qid=1118858640/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1?v=glance%26s=books%26n=507846)*** by Theresa Funiciello (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1995) 
Yes, she’s a lefty (favoring a guaranteed national income among other things), but you won’t find a better testimony to the degradation of contemporary welfare.

### On Compassionate Alternatives to Welfare 

- ***[From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&camp=1789&tag=catoinstitute-20&creative=9325&path=tg/detail/-/080782531X/qid=1118858676/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)*** by David Beito ( University of North Carolina Press , 2000) 
An excellent study of private alternatives to the welfare state.
- ***[The Tragedy of American Compassion](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&camp=1789&tag=catoinstitute-20&creative=9325&path=tg/detail/-/089526725X/qid=1118858734/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1?v=glance%26s=books%26n=507846)*** by Marvin Olasky (Free Press, 1995) 
A ground-breaking history of private charity in America and why it is superior to government-run welfare. Sometimes a bit heavy on the religious content, but still one of the best defenses of civil society as an alternative to welfare.
- ***[Poverty and Compassion: The Moral Imagination of the Late Victorians](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&camp=1789&tag=catoinstitute-20&creative=9325&path=tg/detail/-/0679401199/qid=1118858812/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14?v=glance%26s=books%26n=507846)*** by Gertrude Himmelfarb (Knopf, 1991) 
A solid historical discussion of changing philosophical attitudes toward the poor.