ABSTRACT
On the other hand, some of the profession's founders supported early 20th century campaigns to introduce what were known as Mother's Pensions. These programs were enacted by the states and provided limited income benefits primarily to widows with children or to elderly women who were unable to work (Skocpol, 1992). These efforts were part of a wider progressive social reform movement that campaigned for the introduction of European-style social insurance intended to meet the contingencies of retirement, work injury, disability and unemployment. The passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 is regarded by many as the culmination of these efforts. In addition, Title IV of this legislation replaced the widows pensions with a new program known as Aid to Dependent Children (or ADC). In 1950, it was renamed Aid to Families with Dependent Children (or AFDC). Similar in many ways to Mother's Pensions, AFDC provided means-tested cash benefits primarily to female-headed families with children. Until 1996, it was the country's core income support program and was often referred to as "welfare" even though the term included other means-tested benefits as well (Weaver, 2000).
