Wives Without Husbands

Igra traces the efforts of Progressive reformers in New York City to make "runaway husbands" support their families. Investigating the interrelated histories of marriage and welfare policy in the early 1900s, she reveals how reformers sought to make marriage the solution to women's and children's poverty. She integrates a broad range of topics, including Americanization as a gendered process, breadwinning as a measure of manhood, the relationship between consumer culture and social...
More Description

Igra traces the efforts of Progressive reformers in New York City to make "runaway husbands" support their families. Investigating the interrelated histories of marriage and welfare policy in the early 1900s, she reveals how reformers sought to make marriage the solution to women's and children's poverty. She integrates a broad range of topics, including Americanization as a gendered process, breadwinning as a measure of manhood, the relationship between consumer culture and social policy formation, the class dimensions of family law, and the Jewish community as a source of welfare policy innovation. Igra analyzes the history of anti-desertion reform from its emergence in social policy debates, through the establishment of domestic relations courts, to Depression relief programs.