Elgar 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.