Classic welfare-state programs implicitly targeted a married male breadwinner.

Evidence

Virtually all social welfare programs targeted male workers in nonagricultural occupations, typically an industrial employee. Implicit in welfare state policies was a typical recipient who was male, married, and head of a household with children. Clearly, the wife/mother provided (unpaid of course) childcare, healthcare, and often services to aged parents, in addition to household duties. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 1440

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to feminist political economy (Esping-Andersen’s decommodification critique, Orloff, Fraser) on the male-breadwinner bias baked into welfare-state measurement.