The Welfare Trait (PDF)

Adam Perkins is Lecturer in the Neurobiology of Personality at the Institute of psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK. He brings to this book a wealth of scientific knowledge about personality, gained during more than 15 years researching the topic. Before he became established as a scientist, Adam spent years working as an unskilled labourer and has also claimed welfare when unemployed.

“A courageous and carefully researched book teeming with novel insights and highly original sweeping syntheses. It deserves to be an integral part of the political debate on welfare, as we struggle to construct sustainable structures that can survive the demographic demands of the 21st century. It is also a model of clear writing that is easily accessible to the layman and the policymaker alike. I recommend it to readers in the confident expectation that they will think likewise.” (Andrew Sabisky, Adam Smith Blog, adamsmith.org, January, 2016)

“The central thesis of the book is that the benefits of a generous welfare state erode work ethics, and that the longer people live under welfarism, the more they depend on those benefits, and the more likely they are to cheat to obtain them. … This book deserves to be read. … it is worth buying and sending to your elected representative, with the key findings underlined.” (James Thompson, Psychological Comments, drjamesthomson.blogspot.co.uk, January, 2016)

'The Welfare Trait is electrifying energising and shocking. Dr Perkins, an expert in the neurobiology of personality, argues that a generous welfare state can proliferate employment-resistant personality characteristics. The scientific discharge of this new theory is sure to spark high voltage debate be prepared for a jolt!' Philip Corr, Professor of Psychology, City University, London, UK