Published in 1998. Focusing on gendered aspects of welfare state restructuring, each contributor examines the way in which the welfare state of his or her country has been restructed over the past decade, concentrating on services for elderly people and for children.

1. A More Caring State? The Implications of Welfare State Reconstructing for Social Care in the Republic of Ireland, Mary Daly 2. Gender, Care and the Changing Role of the State in the UK, Hilary Land and Jane Lewis 3. Social Care in The Netherlands, Trudie Knijn 4. The Politics of Care Policies in Germany, Ilona Ostner 5. Caring for Very Young Children and Dependent Elderly People in France: Towards a Commodification of Social Care?, Claude Martin, Antonie Math and Evelyne Renaudat 6. Reconstructing Social Care in Italy, Rossana Trifiletti 7. The Changing 'Welfare Mix' in Childcare and Care for the Frail Elderly in Norway, Kari Woerness 8. Paradoxes of Social Care Reconstructing: The Finnish Case, Leila Simonen and Anne Kovalainen 9. Changing Divisions of Carework: Caring for Children and Frail Elderly People in Sweden, Marta Szebehely.