Feminism and the Welfare State: The Rise of “Big Sister,” By Mrs. Vera West and Mrs. (Dr) Abigail Knight (Florida)

The argument that feminism, particularly second-wave feminism, is both a product and a driver of the welfare state, colloquially termed "Big Sister," resonates deeply within a Christian framework. This perspective posits that feminism, by redirecting women's God-given instinct for loyalty to a provider from husbands to the state, has facilitated the expansion of bureaucratic power, undermining biblical family structures and individual liberty. Below, we outline and defend this argument, grounding it in Christian theology, historical evidence, and political analysis.

From a Christian perspective, the family is a divinely ordained institution, reflecting God's covenantal order. Genesis 2:18–24 establishes marriage as a complementary union where the husband's role as provider and protector is intertwined with the wife's role in nurturing and managing the household (Proverbs 31:10–31). Ephesians 5:22–33 further clarifies this, likening the husband's sacrificial leadership to Christ's love for the church and the wife's submission to her husband as an expression of trust in his provision. This dynamic is not oppressive, but a mutual, covenantal dependence rooted in love and responsibility.

Women's loyalty to their provider, as JD Hall (below link) notes, is a God-given virtue, designed to strengthen family bonds. Historically, this loyalty was directed toward the husband, whose labour ensured the family's survival (1 Timothy 5:8). The state's intervention as a substitute provider disrupts this design, redirecting loyalty to an impersonal bureaucracy. This inversion, from a Christian lens, mirrors Satan's tactic of twisting virtues for destructive ends (2 Corinthians 11:14). By replacing the husband with the state, feminism has co-opted a divine instinct to serve a secular agenda, eroding the family as the cornerstone of society.

The rise of second-wave feminism in the 1960s and 1970s coincided with the expansion of the welfare state in Western nations, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. This was no coincidence. Feminist leaders, influenced by Marxist and socialist ideologies, saw the state as a tool to "liberate" women from dependence on men. Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) framed reliance on husbands as oppressive, while Gloria Steinem and others championed state-funded programs like childcare, welfare, and no-fault divorce laws as pathways to independence. These policies, enacted in the U.S. through programs like Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, shifted economic provision from families to the state.

Voting patterns reflect this shift. Since the 1970s, women have consistently leaned toward parties advocating larger government and social programs. In the U.S., the gender gap in voting emerged starkly after the 19th Amendment (1920), with women favouring Democrats by 8–12% more than men in presidential elections since 1980, largely due to support for welfare, healthcare, and education policies. In the UK, women's support for Labour's social programs grew after suffrage in 1918 and 1928, aligning with the welfare state's expansion post-World War II. This suggests that enfranchising women, while morally defensible, was strategically leveraged by progressives to bolster statism.

The welfare state's growth created a feedback loop. Economic pressures, rising costs, inflation, and a shift to dual-income households, made single-income families less viable. By 1980, only 11% of U.S. households relied on a single earner, down from 40% in 1960. Feminism's push for women's workforce participation, coupled with state subsidies, made the state a de facto provider, supplanting husbands. This was not organic but orchestrated, as socialist thinkers like Friedrich Engels had long argued that dismantling the family unit was key to centralising state power.

The term "Big Sister" aptly captures the welfare state's role as a feminised, nurturing, yet controlling entity. Unlike the patriarchal "Big Brother" of Orwellian fame, "Big Sister" operates through care rather than coercion, offering healthcare, childcare, housing subsidies, and food assistance. This appeals to women's relational instinct to trust providers, as Hall argues. Programs like TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) in the U.S. or Universal Credit in the UK disproportionately benefit single mothers, reinforcing dependence on the state over family structures. In 2022, 70% of U.S. single mothers received some form of public assistance, compared to 20% of two-parent households.

This dependency is not accidental. Feminist policies, such as no-fault divorce (introduced in California in 1969 and adopted widely thereafter), destabilised marriages, increasing single-parent households. The state filled the gap, becoming the provider for millions. Cultural messaging amplified this shift, with media portraying traditional family roles as outdated and state-supported independence as empowering. The result is a voter base loyal to the state's largesse, as women consistently prioritise social safety nets in polls (e.g., 62% of women vs. 49% of men in a 2020 Pew survey supported expanding government aid).

From a Christian perspective, this shift is spiritually and practically disastrous. Spiritually, it subverts God's design by replacing covenantal family bonds with bureaucratic dependence, violating the principle of subsidiarity, that social functions are best handled at the most local level, starting with the family (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). Practically, it weakens society by eroding marriage and fatherhood, correlating with higher poverty rates (25% for single-mother households vs. 5% for married-couple households in 2023) and social instability.

The state's role as "Big Sister" also undermines liberty. As the state expands to meet provision demands, it requires higher taxes, greater regulation, and more control, reducing individual and familial autonomy. This aligns with socialist goals, as articulated by thinkers like Antonio Gramsci, who saw cultural shifts as a precursor to state dominance. Feminism, by design or not, became a vehicle for this agenda, leveraging women's votes to entrench a system that diminishes the very freedoms it claims to advance.

Critics might argue that feminism empowered women by granting economic and political agency, and that the welfare state is a neutral tool for addressing inequality. However, empowerment that trades one form of dependence (on husbands) for another (on the state) is a hollow victory. The welfare state's growth has not reduced poverty long-term; U.S. poverty rates have hovered around 11–15% since the 1960s, while it has eroded family structures. Moreover, the strategic alignment of feminist goals with state expansion suggests intent, not neutrality. Women's suffrage was co-opted by ideologues who understood its potential to shift loyalty from families to the state.

Another counterargument is that economic realities, not feminism, drove women into the workforce and state reliance. Yet, feminism's advocacy for policies that made single-income households unsustainable, coupled with cultural narratives demonising traditional roles, exacerbated these pressures. The state's role as provider was not a response to economic necessity but a deliberate restructuring of social bonds.

The rise of feminism and the welfare state are intertwined, with second-wave feminism redirecting women's loyalty from husbands to "Big Sister." This has enriched the state at the expense of family, faith, and freedom. A Christian response calls for restoring the family as the primary unit of provision and loyalty, through policies that support marriage, single-income households, and local communities over centralised bureaucracies. While suffrage debates are a distraction, the underlying issue, state overreach enabled by shifted loyalties, demands urgent attention. As Proverbs 3:5–6 reminds us, trusting in God's design, not human systems, is the path to true flourishing.

https://insighttoincite.substack.com/p/the-longhouse-vote-how-feminism-and