This work 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 move 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 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.
This work 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 move 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 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.
Subject terms:
older people, organisational structure, politics, public sector, social policy, social welfare, social care, social work history, social care provision, United Nations, welfare state, ageing, benefits, child care, comparative studies, demographics, globalisation;