It is widely assumed today that the 'welfare state' is contracting or retrenching as an effect of the close scrutiny to which entitlement to social security benefits is being subject in most developed countries. In this book, fifteen authorities from nine different countries investigate to what extent this assumption is warranted.

Providing original observations, this seminal text analyses the emergence of social investment policies in both Europe and East Asia. Experts explore the roads and barriers towards effective social investment policies, derive practical social policy implications and highlight important lessons for future social policymaking.

How can we understand older people as real human beings, value their wisdom, and appreciate that their norms and purposes both matter in themselves and are affected by those of others? Using a life-course approach this book argues that the complexity and potential creativity of later life demand a humanistic vision of older people and ageing.

This book shows conclusively that inequalities in health are the scandal of our times in the most unequal of rich nations and calls for immediate action to reduce these inequalities in the near future.

This book analyses money, health, place, quality of life and identity, and highlights the gaps of treatment and outcomes between older and younger people, and between different groups of older people. It provides strong evidence of the scale of disadvantage in the UK and suggests actions that could begin to change the picture of unequal ageing.

This book offers a unique perspective on ideas about late life as expressed in social policy and socio-cultural constructs of age with lived experience.

With insights from trans and non-binary scholars and practitioners and those with lived experience, this book outlines what good care and support for older trans and non-binary people looks like. It enables practitioners in public and community services to develop their knowledge and skills to ensure their practice is affirmative and inclusive.

This book maps out the contours of the European 'social investment' strategy, both at the ideational level and in terms of the policies implemented throughout Europe. It will appeal to both social policy scholars and policy experts.

This original collection analyses the global experience of health care support workers (HSWs) and examines their interface with the health professions, regulatory practice risks, employment challenges and the dilemmas of an ageing population. Crucial future policy recommendations are also made for a world becoming increasingly dependent on HSWs.

In the first dedicated analysis of its kind, international experts review the rationale and results of arts-based approaches to research, teaching, and practice in social work. The book presents examples of their use and methods to evaluate and theorise results and shows how arts can form outputs from research too.

"Social Policy Review" provides students, academics and all those interested in welfare issues with detailed analyses of progress and change in areas of major interest during the past year.