Organized labor in the United States strongly supported pre-New Deal proposals for state pensions for the elderly. The idea that American labor, unlike its European counterparts, did not contribute to the rise of the welfare state is based on evidence from national organizations and their leaders. Review of the activities of the highly political state federations, and of the campaign for old age pensions in Massachusetts, indicates that labor, rather than middle-class reformers, was responsible for the promotion of new public welfare programs.
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