本書由作者1992年5月提交英國倫敦政治經濟學院的博士畢業論文翻譯改寫而來。是從西方社會科學角度看中國社會福利製度的開山之作之一。

Linda Wong（黃黎若蓮），香港城市大學行政與公共管理學係教授。She received her Bachelor of Social Science in Social Work and Sociology from University of Hong Kong, her Master in Public and Social Administration from Brunel University, and her Ph.D in Social Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. She has worked as a social worker and social planner before taking up university teaching. She has taught in the Hong Kong Polytechnic before joining City University in 1985. In the Department, she serves as Subject Leader for China Studies and Chair of Research Committee. Her teaching and research interests span the fields of social welfare, comparative social policy and China studies. A long-standing researcher in social welfare and social development in China, she has completed empirical studies on social welfare reform, migrant workers, unemployment, non-state welfare service development, and comparative social policy between Shanghai and Hong Kong. In 2000, she was invited to serve as Senior Social Affairs Officer in the United Nations. Currently she serves in a number of editorial boards for social policy journals and is Guest Professor of Renmin University of China and East China Normal University.