Women, the State, and Welfare is the first collection of essays specifically about women and welfare in the United States. As an introduction to the effects of welfare programs, it is intended for general readers as well as specialists in sociology, history, political science, social work, and women's studies. The book begins with a review essay by Linda Gordon that outlines current scholarship about women and welfare. The chapters that follow explore discrimination against women inherent in many welfare programs; the ways in which welfare programs reinforce basic gender programs in society;...

I am stunned by the scope and breadth of this splendid new collection of sources. It includes memories, stories, letters, poems and more, gathered from the pens and the hearts of women who lived and worked in these United States. . . . The selections are spell-binding, the introductory material illuminating, and the whole a lesson in how the multicultural and multiracial experience of work in America has been profoundly affected by gender. Alice Kessler-Harris, author of Out to Work"