Description
Book SynopsisElgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas.
Written by eminent scholar Chiara Saraceno, this Advanced Introduction offers a synthetic overview of the core theoretical and policy issues involved in family policy, currently the most dynamic sector of social policies in both developed and developing countries. It discusses the three primary areas of family policy in contemporary society: financial support for the cost of children, short and long term care for children and dependent people, and work-family conciliation.
Key features include:
- An engaging and accessible style
- exploration of the roles of civil law and feminist studies
- a comparative, global perspective including analysis of the Global South
- presentation of the core conceptual and methodological debates in the field.
Providing a compact and concise introduction to the rich scholarship of the field, the Advanced Introduction to Family Policy will be a key resource for students and scholars of family policy, social policy and sociological theory.
Trade Review‘Chiara Saraceno has given us an engaging and concise analysis of the significance of family policy, hallmarked by her characteristic deep knowledge and critical approach.' -- Mary Daly, University of Oxford, UK
’Chiara Saraceno, one of the world's leading scholars of family policy through a gendered lens, covers a remarkable amount of terrain in this concise volume. The book provides an advanced but accessible introduction to family policy – clarifying components and boundaries, identifying an array of goals, and assessing diverse policy drivers. Saraceno deftly tells the story of family policy in historical and cross-national perspective, offering her readers a nuanced portrait of commonalities and variation across both time and space.' -- Janet C. Gornick, Graduate Center, City University of New York, US
Table of ContentsContents: 1. Introduction to family policy 2. Regulating families through law 3. Family policy: identifying a policy field 4. Drivers, goals and actors of family policy 5. Family policies within welfare state studies 6. Family policy profiles 7. Supporting the cost of children: the child benefits package 8. Policies of care 9 Reconciling work and family responsibilities 10. Conclusion References Index
