This comprehensive Handbook provides a unique examination of the key issues and challenges facing society and social policy in the twenty-first century. Featuring both wide-ranging coverage of major issues and detailed analysis of social policies in different countries, the Handbook explores key concepts, policy areas and institutions, considering welfare and social policy in the context of wider socio-economic and cultural divisions. In addition to examining specific policy areas, contributors engage with the social divisions and complex infrastructures that underpin them on both local...