What happens to extensive and generous welfare states when they are faced with serious economic crisis and the effects of globalization? This thorough analysis of the processes of social policy restructuring in two Nordic welfare states endeavours to answer this and other questions related to their survival in a world of intensifying global competition. Virpi Timonen investigates both the changes that have taken place in central social policies in the areas of pensions, unemployment policies, social and health services, and the political and structural reasons for the pattern of policy change that emerged. A critical evaluation of the roles of globalization, political mechanisms and power relationships in shaping these social policies in Finland and Sweden is also featured. Welfare state specialists and those seeking to understand welfare states as a central constituent of politics in Nordic countries will find Restructuring the Welfare State to be of great interest. The book will also appeal to academics and researchers in the fields of social policy and comparative politics, as well as public and social policy analysts in international organizations such as the OECD and the World Bank.

This book presents an up-to-date comparative analysis of domiciliary care policies for the older populations of Denmark, the United States and Germany with a particular focus on similarities and differences between these care regimes. The authors extend their discussions to include issues of welfare state classification, the changing role of the state as the provider of social care services, the recommodification of the care labour force and the increased emphasis placed on both informal care-giving and consumer power. The book makes an important contribution to the debate about the future care of older people and provides an informative and insightful analysis of the provision of publicly funded domiciliary care services from a cross-national perspective. Home Care for Ageing Populations will be of particular interest to academics working in the fields of social policy, social care, gerontology and public/employment policy and will prove a useful source for researchers conducting comparative analysis of social care systems. It will also be of interest to those within the community services / social care arena and public servants responsible for the coordination and delivery of homecare systems, as well as social workers, general practitioners, occupational therapists, and a host of other specialist staff working with older people.

This controversial book argues that concepts such as `successful' and `active' ageing are potentially dangerous paradigms that reflect and exacerbate inequalities in older populations. The author presents a new theory to make sense of the popularity of these concepts, providing essential reading for anyone seeking to make sense of social constructions of ageing in contemporary societies.

Grandparenting in the 21st century is at the heart of profound family and societal changes. It is of increasing social and economic significance yet many dimensions of grandparenting are still poorly understood. Contemporary Grandparenting is the first book to take a sociological approach to grandparenting across diverse country contexts and combines new theorising with up-to-date empirical findings to document the changing nature of grandparenting across global contexts. In this highly original book, leading contributors analyse how grandparenting differs according to the nature of the welfare state and the cultural context, how family breakdown influences grandparenting, and explore men's changing roles as grandfathers. Grandparents today face conflicting norms and expectations about their roles, but act with agency to forge new identities within the context of societal and cultural constraints. Contemporary Grandparenting illuminates key issues relevant to students and researchers from sociology and social policy, including in the fields of family, childhood, ageing and gender studies.

This exciting collection presents an in-depth, up-to-date analysis of the unprecedented phenomenon of increasing numbers of grandparents worldwide, co-existing and interacting for longer periods of time with their grandchildren.

This exciting collection presents an in-depth, up-to-date analysis of the unprecedented phenomenon of increasing numbers of grandparents worldwide, co-existing and interacting for longer periods of time with their grandchildren. The book contains analyses of topics that have so far received relatively little attention, such as transnational grandparenting and gender differences in grandparenting practices. It is the only collection that brings together theory-driven research on grandparenting from a wide variety of cultural and welfare state contexts - including chapters on Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia - drawing broad lines of debate rather than focusing at a country level. Building on the success of 'Contemporary grandparenting', edited by Virpi Timonen and Sarah Arber, this book further deepens our understanding of how social structures continue to shape grandparenting across a wide range of cultural and economic contexts. The book is essential reading and reference for researchers, students and policy-makers who want to understand the growing influence of grandparents in ageing families and societies across the world.