![Adult and Child with Cardboard House](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/optimized/public/2020-04/GettyImages-172700338.jpg?itok=Vx4xftxF) # Social Welfare and Poverty At a Glance The federal government’s antipoverty programs have failed to promote opportunity, self-sufficiency, and prosperity. Cato’s research demonstrates the failures of social welfare policy in the United States, the case for rolling back America’s expensive and ineffective welfare state, and what to replace it with. Share This Topic #### Featured Content [![SNAP Sign Outside of Grocery Store](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2025-12/GettyImages-1375172724.jpg?itok=I1QoC7nE)](https://www.cato.org/commentary/dont-mourn-falling-snap-rolls) Commentary ## [Don’t Mourn the Falling SNAP Rolls](/commentary/dont-mourn-falling-snap-rolls) By [Romina Boccia](https://www.cato.org/people/romina-boccia) and [Tyler Turman](https://www.cato.org/people/tyler-turman) If the government is going to provide welfare benefits, Americans are clear about what it should do: Target the truly needy, not subsidize dependency for adults capable of supporting themselves. [![Family Outside](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2025-04/family%20Cropped.jpg?itok=qLFYsQLs)](https://www.cato.org/commentary/convoluted-scheme-pay-parents-stay-home) Commentary ### [A Convoluted Scheme to Pay Parents to Stay at Home](/commentary/convoluted-scheme-pay-parents-stay-home) By [Veronique de Rugy](https://www.cato.org/people/veronique-derugy) If the administration wants to help families, it should remove the barriers that make raising children expensive for all parents independent of their work status. [![Children Raising Hands - 2024 Annual Report](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2025-07/free-asc-ar-final.jpg?itok=dpKhLkYB)](https://www.cato.org/commentary/sweden-doesnt-mandate-childcare-ratios-why-does-america) Commentary ### [Sweden Doesn’t Mandate Childcare Ratios. Why Does America?](/commentary/sweden-doesnt-mandate-childcare-ratios-why-does-america) By [Chelsea Follett](https://www.cato.org/people/chelsea-follett) Child-to-staff requirements raise costs without delivering clear benefits. [![Childcare hero](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2022-12/childcare-hero.png?itok=j3kDBBs1)](https://www.cato.org/blog/new-right-discovers-welfare-without-work-requirements) blog ### [The New Right Discovers Welfare Without Work Requirements](/blog/new-right-discovers-welfare-without-work-requirements) By [Krit Chanwong](https://www.cato.org/people/krit-chanwong) and [Adam N. Michel](https://www.cato.org/people/adam-n-michel) On September 5, the *New York Times* [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/05/us/politics/stay-at-home-parents-subsidies.html?unlocked_article_code=1.AFE.3NzE.q8jCV_cOX1El&smid=url-share) that the Trump administration is preparing to extend federal childcare subsidies to stay-at-home parents. The proposal turns staying home to provide childcare into a subsidized activity. This scenario is politically and legally unlikely. But it illustrates how the proposal treats federal welfare as a tool for winning the culture war, without regard for the broader economic damage caused by the reform. Congress should not subsidize childcare at all. [![Slum](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-09/GettyImages-172743954.jpg?itok=_cTK_QwI)](https://www.cato.org/blog/census-bureaus-measure-paints-inaccurate-picture-poverty-america) blog ### [Census Bureau’s Measure Paints Inaccurate Picture of Poverty in America](/blog/census-bureaus-measure-paints-inaccurate-picture-poverty-america) By [Romina Boccia](https://www.cato.org/people/romina-boccia) and [Tyler Turman](https://www.cato.org/people/tyler-turman) The Census Bureau’s annual Poverty in the United States report has major flaws. [View More Related Content](/search/topic/25514) ##### Featured Video ##### [Common Sense Reforms to End Poverty and Inequality in California](https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-video/common-sense-reforms-end-poverty-inequality-california) In this 30-minute documentary, we explore common sense solutions to poverty and inequality, with testimony from an ideologically diverse group of business leaders, social activists, and scholars. We are proud to announce that our film won Best Documentary Editing Award at the recent [Oregon Documentary Film Festival](https://filmfreeway.com/OregonDocumentaryFilmFestival?utm_campaign=Cato%20Events&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9dj_BV0k-dVB1OlmVj-UBn73vYTVp02QX2t96GDeeVbUqKhltM-JWz8HvqUK48UKm9HEuH), providing us another platform and opportunity to share our ideas and inform the public of a better way forward. #### Meet Our Experts [![Romina-Boccia-cropped2.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2022-09/Romina-Boccia-cropped2.jpg?itok=JFTKLQrg)](/people/romina-boccia) ##### [Romina Boccia](/people/romina-boccia) Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy [![Chelsea Follett](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2021-01/Chelsea%20Follett.jpg?itok=eaQOLmbf)](/people/chelsea-follett) ##### [Chelsea Follett](/people/chelsea-follett) Research Fellow [![Tyler Turman-cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/bio_picture_mobile/public/2025-12/Tyler%20Turman-cropped.jpg?itok=nHh6jsFz)](/people/tyler-turman) ##### [Tyler Turman](/people/tyler-turman) Research Associate [!["An Inclusive Post-COVID Recovery" text with a job waiting line in the background](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block/public/2020-11/Pandemics%20Cover_Post%20Covid%20Recovery.jpg?itok=9SRhC1tD)](https://www.cato.org/pandemics-policy/inclusive-post-covid-recovery) ##### Featured Study ### [An Inclusive Post-COVID Recovery](https://www.cato.org/pandemics-policy/inclusive-post-covid-recovery) As the nation reopens in the wake of COVID-19, we have the opportunity to ensure that economic recovery is fully shared by everyone. Indeed, inclusive economic growth is essential if we are to recover. Equally important, we have an opportunity not simply to re‐​create the pre‐​COVID‐​19 economy but to ensure a more fair and equitable one. [![Read Full Essay](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4957480/837c489a-eb3c-420a-82ed-e51e9d775ba1.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4957480/837c489a-eb3c-420a-82ed-e51e9d775ba1) hbspt.cta.load(4957480, '837c489a-eb3c-420a-82ed-e51e9d775ba1', {});