The Student's Companion to Social Policy

The fourth edition of The Student's Companion to Social Policy maintains the text's inimitable and best-selling approach with extensive updates and revisions which take account of recent developments and debates, and changing political and economic configurations. Written by experts in the field, this title provides students with a base from which to explore critically the key perspectives and debates within and on social policy, the main options nationally and internationally, and the policy challenges and choices facing contemporary societies. It continues to offer students the most up-to-date, comprehensive synoptic guide to, and reference on, the issues that they are likely to encounter in studying social policy in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The new edition includes: A five-chapter section on key themes and issues in the history and development of UK social policy since the nineteenth century, including the New Labour governments of the twenty-first century New chapters addressing Equalities and Human Rights, Demographic Change, Religion and Social Policy, Taxation and Welfare, Social Policy in Middle Eastern Societies, and a revised coverage of the implications of economic policy and the debate over globalization New problem-centred end-of-chapter review questions There is also a dedicated web site to promote and support students' independent learning and the development of skills in policy analysis, research, and evaluation.