One of the consequences brought about by capitalist globalization puts much pressure and limitation upon realization of welfare state's basic social functions and implementation of government's regulatory capacity. Labor market without regulatory force has suffered from the growth of long-termed unemployment, un-sustainability of working-poor living and destruction of regular jobs by underground market. ”New poverty” is thus the logic product of capitalist growth without jobs. Results deriving from decoupling of capitalist market with the welfare state are increase in the number of poor and in the degree of income inequality, on the one hand, decrease in social security financing and shifting to rely upon targeting policy as well as workfare in terms of obligation of the citizen, on the other. Currents of Western thoughts in social welfare are explored here in order to analyze institutional rules of divergent welfare regimes and historical formation of their logic of collective action. Four traditions, i.e. rights, utility, common good and solidarity, which can be contextualized historically within the period from the ”decline of virtue” since the Enlightenment to the ”rediscovery of virtue” in recent decades, are provided to illuminate different troubles that have been suffered and alternatives that may exist for both English-speaking and continental welfare regimes. What alternatives they are enabling or opportunities constrained by welfare idea embodied in respective tradition will be scrutinized with the main concern about new poverty and social assistance policy.