Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present

In the fourth edition of Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present, Abramovitz traces how the welfare state regulated the lives of women from colonial times to the present.

Drawing on important feminist concepts—social reproduction, the gender division of labor, and patriarchy—Abramovitz successfully exposes the gendered and racialized myths and stereotypes built into welfare state programs. The book carefully explains the contextual conditions that contributed to the precursors of the modern welfare state, its rise and expansion after World War II, and the recent neoliberal effort to dismantle the cash assistance programs most likely to lift women out of poverty. This edition marks the most extensive overhaul to date. It revises the conceptual and background chapters, discusses cash assistance programs, and considers emerging ideas such as the role of economic crises in the development of the US welfare state. It also considers the future of the welfare state under the second Trump Presidency.

Regulating the Lives of Women is an essential resource for all students of social work, sociology, history, political science, public policy, and gender studies.

1121689373

Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present

Regulating the Lives of Women is an essential resource for all students of social work, sociology, history, political science, public policy, and gender studies.

54.99 In Stock

Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present

Add to Wishlist

Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present

Paperback(4th ed.)

$54.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

Paperback(4th ed.)
$54.99

View All Available Formats & Editions

SHIP THIS ITEM

In stock. Ships in 1-2 days.
PICK UP IN STORE

Your local store may have stock of this item.

Available within 2 business hours

Want it Today?
Check Store Availability

Related collections and offers

Overview

Regulating the Lives of Women is an essential resource for all students of social work, sociology, history, political science, public policy, and gender studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032501352
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/23/2025
Edition description:	4th ed.
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mimi Abramovitz is Bertha Capen Reynolds Professor of Social Policy Emerita at the Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, City University of New York, USA.

Introduction 1. A Feminist Perspective on the Welfare State 2. The Colonial Family Ethic: The Development of Families, the Ideology of Women’s Roles, and the Labor of Women 3. Women and the Poor Laws in Colonial America 4. The Rise of the Industrial Family Ethic: “A Woman’s Place Is in The Home” 5. Women and Nineteenth-Century Relief 6. Poor Women and Progressivism: Protective Labor Law and Mothers’ Pensions 7. The Great Depression and The Emergence of the US Welfare State 8. The Social Security Retirement Program 9. The Unemployment Insurance Program 10. Aid to Families with Dependent Children: Single Mothers in the Twentieth Century 11. Conclusion: Managing Marginalized Populations

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

"Every generation needs a scholar like Mimi Abramovitz when historian becomes futurist. Masterfully weaving economics, politics, policies, cultural ideologies, and social movements, she articulates US history as experienced by women and people of color. She reveals ongoing struggles/resistance of everyday people and what this portends in the Trump era."
- Jessica Toft, Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, USA
"A critical update to a seminal text from one of social work's foremost thinkers on the welfare state. Now, more than ever, we need Abramovitz's clarity of thought in bringing feminist politics to social work theory and practice, to move the profession away from neoliberalism, racism and gender oppression."
- Cameron W. Rasmussen, Assistant Professor at the Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, USA
"I cut my teeth on the first edition of this pathbreaking feminist tome, and can unreservedly say that the world needs this meticulously researched, cutting-edge 4th edition now more than ever. There’s no one who can state the case better than Abramowitz for gender and race equity, and an end to poverty."
- Donna Baines, Professor in the School of Social Work, University of British Columbia, Canada
"The timing of the 4th edition of this brilliant book could not be better! With major revisions to roughly half the book, Abramowitz has retained a feminist framework, but more closely examines both the history and the negative effect of recent Neoliberal policies on the lives of women."
- Susan P. Robbins, Cele S. and Samuel D. Keeper Endowed Professor in Social Justice, University of Houston, USA
"With scholarly precision and feminist activist lens, Mimi Abramovitz continues to shine a light on how women's lives are controlled by patriarchal and racialized social welfare arrangements, historically and contemporarily. With incisive analysis and determined feminist activism, Mimi Abramovitz's carefully crafted work shows that when women organise, they remain a powerful force fighting for gender quality and inclusive democracy for all. Essential reading for scholars of contemporary feminist social policy analysis."
- Carolyn Noble, Founding Professor of Social Work and Head of School of Social Work at Australian College of Applied Psychology and co-editor of The Routledge International Handbook of Feminisms in Social Work (2024)
"Mimi Abramovitz is in that category of feminist theorists who has created concepts so popular, that you have probably used them without realizing their source. And now in this volume you can understand the sheer intellectual force with which Abramovitz intricately weaves together her concept of the "Family Ethic" with Social Reproduction Theory. The result is historically precise and theoretically stunning."
- Tithi Bhattacharya, Professor of South Asian History at Purdue University, USA
We are fortunate that Mimi Abramovitz has updated and revised her classic book, Regulating the Lives of Women. Abramovitz illuminates the ways in which, from colonial times to the present, social policy rewarded women who complied with the Family Ethic and punished those who departed from its prescribed wife and mother roles. Providing a gendered analysis of the welfare state that takes race, class, and history into account, she also, importantly. advances proposals toward gender equity. This new edition is incisive and informative, increasing our understanding of current challenges and potential for positive change.
- Michael Sherraden, George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, USA

From the Publisher

Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present

Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present

Paperback(4th ed.)

Paperback(4th ed.)

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Customer Reviews

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews