This is an edited collection of papers which originated in a conference of the same title in 1993. The editors provide an opening chapter outlining the major themes and approach of the book, and there follow a further eight chapters from a range of contributors. In their opening chapter the editors write that the volume is concerned with ‘the exploration of a number of themes, including the gendered allocation of welfare resources in society and the role of family and state in influencing this division; the effect of gender in the creation and adoption of policies concerning health and welfare by pressure groups, political parties, and government at both local and national levels; and the extent to which the balance of voluntary and statutory bodies alters the nature of welfare, not least because of the differential involvement of men and women’ (p. 1).