Becker believed that such dramatic changes in the structure of the family had more to do with the expansion of the welfare state in the postwar era than with feminism per se—which could be considered a consequence rather than an instigator of these dynamics. Like many of his contemporaries, both neoliberals and neoconservatives, Becker singled out AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children)—the “poor woman’s alimony”—as one of the primary causes of the breakdown of the family.

Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, loc. 210