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Title: An End to Welfare Rights: The Rediscovery of Independence (Choice in Welfare) by David G. Green ISBN: 0-255-36452-0 Publisher: Institute of Economic Affairs Pub. Date: March, 1999 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $18.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: Heaven helps those who help themselves.
Comment: Another book on welfare reform. Dr. Green invokes a long tradition of writers who care about those less able to help themselves but who believes that the best way to help is to help people to help themselves not merely to give handouts.

If this book were only about this then I would heartily endorse it and probably award it five starts. Unfortunately there is another issue which is cleverly incorporated into the text but is really a distinct issue in it's own right which is the thorny issue of what is euphemistically termed lifestyle choice.

The book has much to commend it. Clearly the author has looked into this very seriously and drawn heavily on his work on mutual and friendly societies in arriving at his conclusions. He makes a good case for the ending of the payment of welfare benefits as we know them and the substitution of government assistance whilst restoring independence. There is further work to be done in this area and, in particular, the transitional arrangements to that position but generally speaking he sets out a good case. It seems to me too that there is scope aplenty for some serious research into the costs of social administration involved in taxing incomes and earnings and the payment of social benefits out to millions. How can we as post-modern societies continue to rob Peter to pay Peter and Paul too? However, I digress.

The issue of lifestyle choice is clearly an anathema to the author who sets out his stall for the restoration of the traditional family, a theme which provides a unifying link to the publications of the Health & Welfare Unit now CIVITAS. He attempts to convince libertarians that the family is an essential prerequisite to the maintainance of a free society but does not address any of the fundamental issues which confront such a position. The argument is a crucial one and one which is at the crux of the debate about what sort of society we want. Yhere is a rather unholy alliance of ethical socialists, traditional conservatives and the Christian right who together are campaigning for the restoration of the family as a centrepiece of government and state policies.

This is not the place to debate that issue but in a way it underpins Green's position. His thesis seems to rely on the unstated assumption that for his scheme to work it requires a traditional family structure of the single breadwinner and a stay at home parent. At a stroke this would cut down significantly on the payment of welfare benefits, reduce the demands for childcare and have important implications for all other aspects of social policy.

The problem with this assumption is that it would require the equivalent of putting the genie back in the bottle. However, while this would be popular in some sections of the policy wonk community it would probably dismay many in business who have come to realise the important and growing position of women in the workforce. That said one can conjecture a future in which it is the woman of the household who goes out to work whilst the man remains at home and rears the children.

Food for thought but then one should be careful what one wishes for!