This text provides an overview of what anthropology has to offer welfare studies (and vice-versa) and what an anthropology of welfare might be like. Case studies from anthropologists examine different branches of welfare and community care, including: maternity services; children with learning difficulties; children's homes; mothers' centres; people with HIV; mental health centres; housing; and care and provision for the elderly. Contributors focus on comparative welfare systems, with examples taken from urban and rural areas of Britain, the USA, Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Japan and New...