Maternalism is the public expression of domestic values associated with motherhood. It centers on the language of motherhood to justify women's political activities, actions and validate state or public policies. Maternalism is an extension of "empowered motherhood." It defines itself as the extension of feminine moral values of nurturance and care and the home's social caring into a larger community. Under maternalism, the mother-child relationship is essential for maintaining a healthy society. All women are seen united and defined by their ability and shared responsibility to mother all children. Using the foundations of motherhood, mothers within maternalism provide a service to the state or nation by raising "citizen-workers." 20th and 21st-century scholars have shed light on women activists in the context of maternalist politics focused on policies designed to benefit women and children, such as maternal and child health care programs, mother pensions like the ADC program and other various welfare programs. Some scholars consider maternalism to be part of feminist movements and ideologies. On the other hand, others consider it to be different from feminism due to some maternalists incorporating a shared characteristic that the male figure in the household should be the economic provider and that a woman's central role is as a mother.

Maternalism emerged as a social and political mindset in the 18th century attached to Republican motherhood. The mindset later shaped the Congress of Mothers in the 19th century and Progressive reformers in the 20th century. Maternalism continued into the 20th century, influencing United States government reform and women in the workplace.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, settlement homes, also known as mission homes or rescue homes, became popular in American cities and urban centers. White middle-class women, who are also known as matrons, founded settlement houses. These establishments provided housing, resources, and public services to working-class individuals and newly arrived immigrants. Middle-class white women who ran these settlements offered educational services, child care, health care and offered employment to other women and mothers. Major settlement houses included Hull House in Chicago and Toynbee Hall in New York City.

In 1874, single Protestant women known as matrons founded the Presbyterian Mission Home in San Francisco and lasted into the early 20th century. According to historian Peggy Pascoe, the Presbyterian Mission Home's primary objective was to "rescue" Chinese immigrant women from prostitution and educate them about Christian gender and family norms. For Protestant women, the Christian home was a traditional ideal and value, rooted in the Victorian gender system, as well as the newer idea of "companionate marriage." Matrons who embraced the companionate marriage ideal believed the space of the mission home would provide moral values of purity and piety for the betterment of women they took in. Protestant women believed that these moral values were at the core of "true womanhood." Protestant women matrons were dedicated to their missionary work and saw their rescuing and mothering women's efforts as a professional career. On the other hand, the Mission home gave Chinese women the chance to establish marriages, seek help within their marriages, get out of arranged marriages and, find new husbands. Some Chinese women came to the Mission home to get protection from their abusive husbands. Other Chinese women went to the matrons when their husbands died and consequently became under the control of their in-laws or when they wanted to build better relationships with their relatives. Overall, the Mission home helped Chinese women establish a place in American culture and contributed to the development of the Chinese American middle-class in San Francisco and other cities in the United States.

At the turn of the 20th century, socially acceptable occupations for middle-class white women included teaching and nursing. Women of color experienced widespread employment discrimination and became primarily regulated to specific service industries, domestic and agricultural work. In 1910, women accounted for only 5-6% of doctors, 1% of lawyers, and 1% of clergy. Women achieved tremendous success in creating new women-oriented professions than they achieved breaking into male-dominated fields, by creating jobs based on their domestic and maternal qualities, according to maternalism rhetoric and logic. For example, as home economics emerged in the 1890s at MIT and the University of Chicago, women studied science and used experiments to influence politics. Female-led labs studied ways to create cleaner water and better American sewers. Public Health Nursing establishment became alternatives to traditional nursing. The Public Health Nursing programs allowed women to have their own private practices, and they would not have to work under men. However, most women served communities who couldn't pay, which limited their resources and income. Social work primarily operated in social settlements, serving immigrant women and children. Social workers were crucial players in pushing for progressive reform.

Following World War II in 1945, there was a high social and political demand to reform and expand the United States daycare system. The daycare reform was mostly demanded by working women. The postwar period was a time of contradiction between home-focused gendered roles for women and increased their participation in the workforce. The postwar era included external threats like communism, and internal threats, such as emancipated women, familial disruption, and other social factors. Consequently, American society turned to the family to free themselves from some of these fears. In effect, the United States government made many public policies to protect the American family and home. Therefore, the social norm at this time was for women to stay home, so they could take care of their children and keep up their homes; this is also referred to as the "homemaker ideal." Despite women taking on the homemaker role in American postwar society, many women began to work outside the home once their children were old enough to attend school. By the 1950s, one-third of all American women worked outside the home, and about one-half worked full time. However, opportunities for women entering the workforce were very minimal, and they often earned low wages. The changing gender roles for women in the home and outside the home ultimately influenced public policy change. With the changing political discourses and labor patterns, several political organizations embraced the rhetoric of maternalism, such as the Women's Bureau, the Children's Bureau and, the ADC program.

Throughout the Post World War II era, between 1945 and the late 1960s, different forms of maternalism emerged as women increasingly joined the paid workforce more profoundly. However, American society did not encourage mothers to work outside the home; instead, they were encouraged to stay home and care for their children. Gradually, American social workers became more accepting and shifted their stances when it came to maternal employment. Historians Yvonne Zylan and Laura Curran describe the view taken by these professional social workers as one that reinforced ideas of motherhood while also trying to embrace ideas of feminism, such as a woman's individual right to work. In both cases, some social workers rejected maternal employment while others advocated and celebrated the idea of working women.

"State maternalism" is a term used by historian Yvonne Zylan to explore postwar maternalists and how they argued that it was the state's responsibility to protect and aid working mothers and their children.