This book explores issues of trust and distrust among low-income women in the U.S. at work, around childcare, in their relationships, and with caseworkers, and presents detailed evidence from in-depth interviews about our welfare system and why it is failing the very people it is designed to help. By comparing low-income mothers' experiences before and after welfare reform, the author probes women's struggles to gain or keep jobs while they simultaneously care for their children, often as single mothers. By offering a new way to understand how structural factors impact the daily experiences of poor women, this work highlights the pervasiveness of distrust in their lives, uncovering its hidden sources and documenting its most corrosive and paralyzing effects. The author's critique and conclusions hold powerful implications for scholars and policymakers alike.