The Wages of Motherhood

Mink provides a history of the maternalists, a little-known group of women who created the idea of "mother's pensions", a precursor to welfare in America. The maternalists' views were similar to those of first-wave feminists in their protectionist outlook. Roosevelt and other New Dealers were sympathetic to the maternalists' goals, including that of Americanization of immigrants and their descendants. This book is an eye-opening look at the origins of welfare and how the original welfare system operated in America.