This themed collection is bound together by some foundational observations which have been well documented in earlier research. European post-war welfare systems face challenges related to aging populations, globalization, migration, changing patterns of family and gender roles. The post-war model of welfare dependent on the idea of stable heterosexual families, with male breadwinners and women carers is giving way to more individualized and mobile systems. The four articles and commentary in this issue provide glimpses of the issues within this field that unite contexts as diverse as the Nordic countries, Brazil and the United States. They explore the intersection of welfare, religion and gender charting gendered problems in welfare provision in relation to religious organisation, affiliation and identity. This issue provides examples of how the exhaustion of women and welfare systems is interconnected and the understanding of this crucial to any attempts to reform welfare systems to enhance social inclusion or reduce exclusion.