Paperback
The Young, the Old and the State
Social Care Systems in Five Industrial Nations
9781847201041 Edward Elgar Publishing
This is a comparative account of social care services for children and older people in five key industrial nations (Finland, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States). The authors break new ground by moving beyond institutional description and seeking to understand the normative and moral qualities of welfare systems. The book builds on existing theories of welfare state regimes by extending the analysis to the arena of social care.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
This is a comparative account of social care services for children and older people in five key industrial nations (Finland, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States). The authors break new ground by moving beyond institutional description and seeking to understand the normative and moral qualities of welfare systems. The book builds on existing theories of welfare state regimes by extending the analysis to the arena of social care.
A full and fascinating account is provided of the historical, economic and political origins of childcare and care for older people in each of the five countries. These analyses are then used as the basis for a theoretical account of the developmental trajectories of social care systems. The book proposes that there are common pressures at work in all industrial nations driving their welfare systems to similar forms of organisation and structure. However, these trends are mediated by important differences in culture and history.
The Young, the Old and the State is an eminently readable and accessible book, and will be warmly welcomed by academics and researchers in social and public policy, health and social care and welfare economics. It will also be of interest to policymakers and NGOs involved in welfare and social care provision and provide a useful source for students on undergraduate and graduate programmes.
A full and fascinating account is provided of the historical, economic and political origins of childcare and care for older people in each of the five countries. These analyses are then used as the basis for a theoretical account of the developmental trajectories of social care systems. The book proposes that there are common pressures at work in all industrial nations driving their welfare systems to similar forms of organisation and structure. However, these trends are mediated by important differences in culture and history.
The Young, the Old and the State is an eminently readable and accessible book, and will be warmly welcomed by academics and researchers in social and public policy, health and social care and welfare economics. It will also be of interest to policymakers and NGOs involved in welfare and social care provision and provide a useful source for students on undergraduate and graduate programmes.
Critical Acclaim
‘This book, edited by three well-known and widely respected academics reflects the diversity of social care while simultaneously striving to identify common patterns, trends and underpinning philosophies. It makes an important new contribution to understanding why patterns of social care differ between and within countries, and the consequences of these variations. In explaining contemporary patterns of social care for children and older people in the countries studied, the contributors turn to historical accounts to explain the current apparent lack of coherence. Underpinning the diverse patterns of social care development are the transformation of social care from a private good to a public commodity; tensions between universality and selectivity; and new tensions between individual rights and family responses. As well as providing detailed and up to the minute accounts of the different care systems in the countries studied, this book makes a major new contribution to our understanding of the complex and conflicting pressures underlying post-industrial welfare states.’
– Caroline Glendinning, University of Manchester, UK
– Caroline Glendinning, University of Manchester, UK
Contributors
Contributors: A. Anttonen, J. Baldock, A. Evers, J. Heffernan, T. Kröger, C. Sachße, J. Sipilä, M. Takahashi
Contents
Contents:
1. The Importance of Social Care
Jorma Sipilä, Anneli Anttonen and John Baldock
2. Social Care in Finland: Stronger and Weaker Forms of Universalism
Teppo Kröger, Anneli Anttonen and Jorma Sipilä
3. Social Care Services for Children and Older People in Germany: Distinct and Separate Histories
Adalbert Evers and Christoph Sachße
4. Care for Children and Older People in Japan: Modernizing the Traditional
Mutsuko Takahashi
5. Social Care in the United Kingdom: A Pattern of Discretionary Social Administration
John Baldock
6. Care for Children and Older People in the United States: Laggard or Merely Different?
Joseph Heffernan
7. Patterns of Social Care in Five Industrial Societies: Explaining Diversity
Anneli Anttonen, Jorma Sipilä and John Baldock
Index
1. The Importance of Social Care
Jorma Sipilä, Anneli Anttonen and John Baldock
2. Social Care in Finland: Stronger and Weaker Forms of Universalism
Teppo Kröger, Anneli Anttonen and Jorma Sipilä
3. Social Care Services for Children and Older People in Germany: Distinct and Separate Histories
Adalbert Evers and Christoph Sachße
4. Care for Children and Older People in Japan: Modernizing the Traditional
Mutsuko Takahashi
5. Social Care in the United Kingdom: A Pattern of Discretionary Social Administration
John Baldock
6. Care for Children and Older People in the United States: Laggard or Merely Different?
Joseph Heffernan
7. Patterns of Social Care in Five Industrial Societies: Explaining Diversity
Anneli Anttonen, Jorma Sipilä and John Baldock
Index
