Welfare states are a major feature of many societies. This book draws on qualitative interviews with people receiving various working age welfare payments in Ireland to analyse welfare conditionality and explore stigma, social reciprocity and the notions of the deserving and undeserving poor.

The wider perspective of poverty in rural Ireland is raised in this book by different authors. The subject is taken beyond equating poverty in terms of poor communities and poor farmers as those living in poverty in rural areas and the factors affecting their life chances are identified.