Michelle Mouton is associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1997. She is the recipient of the Fritz Stern Prize awarded by the German Historical Institute for the best dissertation in German History upon which this book is based. She has published articles in Central European History Journal, the Journal of Women's History, and the History Workshop Journal.

'It is one of very few books which explore aspects of social policy in both the Weimar and Nazi periods and the author is, therefore, able to contribute to wider historiographical debates about continuities in German history as well as the nature of the Nazi state and women's agency within it.' European History Quarterly

• 1. Marriage policy in turmoil: stabilizing society, re-ordering gender roles, and guaranteeing the future; 2. Divorce: balancing individual freedom and the 'public good'; 3. From Mother's Day to forced sterilization: motherhood as antidote to national health; 4. Alleviating the burdens of motherhood; 5. Morality versus mortality: negotiating policy toward single mothers and illegitimate children; 6. Forming families beyond blood ties: foster care; 7. Conclusion.