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Social welfare policy in the United States has gone from controversy in the 1930s, to consensus at mid-century, and back to controversy and confusion in the late twentieth century. In America's Welfare State, Edward Berkowitz offers a concise and informative historical overview of this costly and often frustrating area of domestic policy.

Descriving the uneasy evolution of America's welfare programs, Berkowitz explains how the Social Security program became popular, why it almost went bankrupt, and why its long-term prospects for solvency remain uncertain. He traces changing public perceptions of social welfare goals, from providing secure entitlements for the eldery in the 1930s and 1940s to making payments to illegitimate children and their mothers in the 1950s and 1960s. He also explores the question of national health insurnace, noting that the United States outspends Japan on health care per capita by a margin of tow to one, and yea millions of Americans remain without health insurance.