Care and social integration in European societies

With ongoing concerns about a 'care deficit' in Europe, as well as changing demographics, employment and social trends, there is a need for greater understanding and sharing of the policies that shape care today.

This book provides invaluable descriptions and comparative analyses of the now complex and highly varied arrangements for the care of children, disabled and older people in Europe, set within the context of changing labour markets and welfare systems.

It includes analyses of the modernisation of informal care and new forms of informal care, topics often neglected in the literature.

Issues of gender, family change, social integration and citizenship are all explored in a series of chapters that report on original empirical, cross-national research.

In addition, the book introduces new theoretical concepts for conducting comparative research, which usefully broaden the study of social policy and its parameters.

All contributors are high-ranking experts involved in the COST A13 Action Programme, funded by the European Union. Care arrangements and social integration in European societies is essential reading for social policy and sociology academics, particularly those who are interested in comparative policy analysis, gender, labour markets and families.

It is also recommended reading for graduate level students in these fields and policy makers, for whom the book provides a unique resource on the latest European developments in this critical policy area.