Irish Social Policy In Context

This 2nd edition of a highly respected textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to Irish social policy. It provides an accessible, critical overview taking account of significant changes over recent years. The book is organised across four key sections: 1: Traces the emergence and development of Irish social policy from its origins to the present 2: Situates the Irish case in the wider context of the politics, ideology and socio-economic factors relevant to the development and reform of welfare states 3: Analyses core social service areas with specific reference to the contemporary Irish context 4: Explores how social policy affects particular groups in Irish society including children, older people, people with disabilities, carers, new immigrant and minority ethnic groups, and LGBT people. Discusses the challenges posed by environmental issues and the importance of a social policy perspective Text boxes used throughout provide policy summaries, definitions of key concepts, along with guides for further reading and discussion. This is a valuable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Irish social policy and allied subjects.

The focus in this text is on the historical development of Irish social policy, with a discussion of major influences - such as the European Union - on policy formation.

28 of the leading social policy commentators in Ireland contribute to 22 chapters ranging across the social policy spectrum.

This book provides a critical and theoretically-informed assessment of the nature and types of structural change occurring in the Irish welfare state in the context of the 2008 economic crisis. Its overarching framework for conceptualising and analysing welfare state change and its political, economic and social implications is based around four crucial questions, namely what welfare is for, who delivers welfare, who pays for welfare, and who benefits. Over the course of ten chapters, the authors examine the answers as they relate to social protection, labour market activation, pensions, finance, water, early child education and care, health, housing and corporate welfare. They also innovatively address the impact of crisis on the welfare state in Northern Ireland. The result is to isolate key drivers of structural welfare reform, and assess how globalisation, financialisation, neo-liberalisation, privatisation, marketisation and new public management have deepened and diversified their impact on the post-crisis Irish welfare state. This in-depth analysis will appeal to sociologists, economists, political scientists and welfare state practitioners interested in the Irish welfare state and more generally in the analysis of welfare state change.

This completely updated edition of 'Contemporary Irish Social Policy' gives an overview of the historical development of each policy area and discusses current and future issues in the field.

The book's focus is on the implications for Irish social policy of social change including the need to respond to changes resulting from immigration and shifts within the Irish welfare economy that have created new needs for social care. Many of the chapters locate Irish debates about care in a broader social policy context. This is a companion volume to "Contemporary Irish Social Policy and Theorising Irish Social Policy".

This book is the first comprehensive international overview of maternity services. Drawing on concepts of risk and social citizenship, it explores the relationship between welfare regimes and health policy by comparing and contrasting provision for childbearing women. Each substantive chapter focuses on a different country, presenting detailed contextual information on health care provision, maternity interventions and birth outcomes there. They discuss key issues such as birth rates and fertility patterns, the role of patient choice, attitudes to place of birth and maternity entitlements among others, and the countries covered represent diverse welfare regimes, including Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. An extended introduction and a conclusion draw the book together and place it in the context of the literature on comparative welfare regimes. It is an important reference for students and academics interested in comparative social policy, health services research, and maternity services and policies.