Includes bibliographical references (pages 319-329) and index.

Beginning with the stock market crash of 1929, Blanche Coll documents the evolution of federal and state government policymaking for welfare and Social Security, our "safety net." As Coll points out, the policies that determine who is "entitled" to aid, how standard dollar amounts are set, child support responsibilities, the equitable fiscal division between state, federal, and local governments, and the resulting impact on the poor - particularly women and children of all races - have fluctuated throughout the history of welfare. Coll shows how demographic patterns, the definition of a family, the relative health of the economy, and Presidents' political agendas all deeply affect the system of entitlements to Social Security and welfare, the kernel of the American welfare state

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