Regulating the Lives of Women

"Regulating the Lives of Women is an essential resource. A classic account of how gendered social policies shape poor women’s options, this new edition is especially important given the end of welfare and growing challenges to women’s well-being."

Alice Kessler-Harris, author of In Pursuit of Equity and R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of American History, Columbia University, USA

"Regulating the Lives of Women, a nuanced history of American social welfare policy through a feminist lens, reveals how gendered and racialized division of labor and the racialized institutions frame social policy and the lives of all women. Defining the welfare state as an arena of political struggle, the book is a must for students, researchers, progressive policy makers and activists who will find it both insightful and, better yet, useful."John Ehrenreich, author of Third Wave Capitalism and Professor of Psychology at SUNY Old Westbury, USA

"Well-researched, coherent, and powerful, the book is today’s must-read. Appeals to both younger and older generations who are upset about the assault on women’s rights and interested in the historical roots of today's public policies."

Michael Reisch, Daniel Thursz Distinguished Professor of Social Justice, University of Maryland, USA"Regulating the Lives of Women captures the soul of activism and pushes intellectual boundaries with rigor. Having used this book in classes in Harlem, the rural Mountain West, and the Ivy-League, I saw it transform these very different students from dispassionate policy observers to eager and critical thinkers of the gendered welfare state."

Amy Castro Baker, Associate Professor, School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania, USA

"Regulating the Lives of Women is a subtle and nuanced reading of the history of American social welfare policy through a feminist lens. Abramovitz focuses our attention on the ways in which the social welfare system encodes and reinforces the gendered division of labor and established modes of social reproduction, as well as the racialized arrangements of American society. Yet she does not let this be a story of victimization. Instead she defines the welfare state as an arena of political struggle. Her book provides the tools that both progressive policy makers and activists need to inform their struggles for change. It is both insightful and, better yet, useful."

John Ehrenreich, author of Third Wave Capitalism and Professor of Psychology at SUNY Old Westbury, USA

"The second edition of Regulating the Lives of Women could not have appeared at a more opportune moment, when women's rights and well-being are under assault in multiple policy areas, on the internet, and in parts of the media. It combines critical analysis with well-researched detail in a coherent and powerful narrative. The book is essential reading, particularly for a younger generation that is unaware that the values shaping today's policies and anti-feminist attitudes have deep historical roots."

Michael Reisch, Daniel Thursz Distinguished Professor of Social Justice, University of Maryland, USA

"Dr. Abramovitz’s work embodies a soul of activism while simultaneously pushing intellectual boundaries with rigor. As a social welfare scholar I have used this book in Harlem, the rural Mountain West, and students in the ivy-league. In each of these dramatically different settings I watched students interact with this text and move from dispassionate policy observers to critical thinkers possessing a keen ability to analyze how our unstated assumptions about women shift and shape the social safety net. At a time when the basic human rights are under political threat this is the type of text students, scholars, and organizers need."

Amy Castro Baker, Associate Professor, School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania, USA

"Regulating the Lives of Women is an essential resource. It remains the classic account of how gendered social policies shape the choices poor women make. This new edition is especially important in the face of the end of welfare and new challenges to women’s well-being."

Alice Kessler-Harris, author of In Pursuit of Equity: Women, Men and the Quest for Economic Citizenship in Twentieth Century America and R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of American History, Columbia University, USA