Consult this handy reference work when you need accurate, up to date information on subjects ranging from the effects of work on children's education to the use of child labor in Eastern Europe. From Dickensian exploitation of orphans to the after-school jobs of American students, child labor continues to generate controversy. Surveying working children from the Industrial Revolution to the present day, Child Labor takes the subject beyond the usual third world confines as it looks at traditional children's occupations, from chimney sweeps in Victorian Britain to child actors in TV commercials. A-Z entries are also arranged by category Numerous citations of contemporary books and studies

`A good foundation for those intent on further research' - childRight

`It is intelligent, lively, clear, and well written' - Professor Hugh Cunningham, University of Kent at Canterbury

`This is an excellent source book which is up-to-date and covers key debates on childhood in an accessible way' - Professor Andy Furlong, University of Glasgow

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the study of `children' and `childhood' within the social sciences. Children, Welfare and the State provides readers with a comprehensive critical introduction to modern childhood studies.

In addition to engaging with the broad theoretical debates within the `new' sociology of childhood and developmental psychology the book:

- Explores key questions in relation to researching childhood, children's agency and social constructionist perspectives;

- Traces historical and contemporary developments in social policy responses to children and childhood;

- Examines the primary sites of state intervention in regulating and shaping children's lives.

- Re-states the primary significance of social class and other structural divisions in understanding children's experiences of childhood;

- Systematically assesses the impact of inequality and poverty on children and childhood.

Children, Welfare and the State has been tailored to appeal to those studying children and childhood within social policy, sociology, psychology, criminology, history, social work and youth and community work courses.