ABSTRACT
Until quite recently, most of the historical writing on social policy was 'whiggish', optimistically assuming that the expansion of state welfare provision was accompanied by steady progress in the 'condition of the people'. But the persistence of poverty in Britain, and closer attention to the experiences of marginal groups in British society, has led to a more pessimistic approach. The condition of women is a good case in point, for the relative economic position of women in British society is not very different at the end of the century than it was at the beginning.
