Demographic and societal changes are strongly affecting the contexts of childhood and the experience of being children. At the same time, across social groups and across societies, diversities and inequalities in childhood are taking new forms. In the developed world, in particular, children their number, their welfare, their education, the division of power and responsibilities over them among the different social actors have entered the public agenda, at the national and supranational level. Public concern over issues such as fertility rates, mothers working, early childhood education and...

This volume represents the present state of theoretical debate in welfare state scholarship, drawing on research from western Europe, North America and Japan. It therefore provides a valuable balance of breadth and detail from the broad international overview to comparisons between specific welfare states and national case studies.

Governments have had a longstanding interest in family forms and the behaviour of family members, although their goals and instruments have differed over time and across countries. This timely collection, along with an original introduction by the editors, brings together seminal contributions focusing on a number of important topics relating to this field. Volume I focuses on the origins and social foundations of family policies, their main actors and drivers; together with consideration of crucial concepts and themes, including gender, intergenerational obligations and care. Volume II deals...