In many ways, the European welfare state constituted a response to the new forms of social fracture and economic turbulence that were born out of industrialization-challenges that were particularly acute for groups whose integration into society seemed the most tenuous. Covering a range of...

Introduction: Entitlement in Historical Context -- Revealing the 'social consequences of unemployment' -- Charity, Relief and Localism in Depression-era Chicago -- Charity and Entitlement -- Entitled to Relief -- Getting Relief from the Government -- Epilogue: Entitled to Relief?