New Books Network Alexandra Ghiț, "Welfare Work Without Welfare: Women and Austerity in Interwar Bucharest" (De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2025)
Dec 18, 2025
In this discussion, Alexandra Ghiț, a historian and postdoctoral researcher, digs into her book about the critical role women played in welfare during the austerity of interwar Bucharest. She illustrates how women, through various forms of unpaid labor, became essential social workers amid economic turmoil. Ghiț explores women's work patterns, wage gaps, and municipal welfare roles, revealing the intricate ties of gender and societal expectations. Additionally, she highlights the influence of transnational reforms on local welfare practices and the legacies of these historical struggles.
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Mariana’s Case File
- Mariana is a 33-year-old single mother making leather shoe parts from two rented sewing machines in her room.
- A social worker's case file from November 1929 reveals her debt, illness, and precarious mixture of paid and unpaid care work.
Patchwork Welfare Provision
- Social assistance in interwar Bucharest functioned as a state-subsidized but privately run patchwork rather than a cohesive public welfare system.
- Women welfare activists were influential but public funding remained limited, producing many doors but few systematic supports.
Gendered Work Patterns
- Women in Bucharest did different paid work than men and combined it with significant unpaid care work.
- Even when employed full-time, women earned roughly half of men's wages and faced structural barriers like childcare and pregnancy impacts.