This article suggests how notions of replacing, supplementing and valuing care by the family can be linked with policy instruments of childcare services, leave provisions, and cash for care by family, to influence care arrangements at collective and individual levels. It analyses care arrangements in Japan and Korea, estimating their changes over approximately ten years using the care time mix approach. The findings suggest that at the beginning of the new millennium, care arrangements in both countries were configured as female>non-state>male>state. A decade later, Japan remains the same, whereas Korea has become a paid care economy configured as non-state>female>male>state. Unpaid care economy remains gendered, but over time, Japanese men's contribution has marginally increased, with the opposite being true in Korea. The article discusses what the transformation of the paid care economy in Korea, and its expansion in Japan, imply for social structures in the respective countries.

Recent major political developments, including Brexit and the US presidential elections, have been strongly associated with public concerns around levels of immigration. Much of this has centred on the role of migrants in the low-skilled sectors of the economy and concerns that they have displaced members of local communities from jobs and depressed wage levels. This is despite compelling evidence that immigrants rarely take jobs from native workers in OECD countries (Constant, 2014) and that in the long run, the wage and employment effects of immigration in the 1990s and in the 2000s were small and always positive for less educated workers of all OECD countries (Docquier et al., 2014). Recent UK specific studies have found that the impact on wages is considered to be relatively small (Dustmann et al., 2013; Nickell and Salaheen, 2015). Notwithstanding this evidence, hostility to migrants and migration more generally has become increasingly overt, as reflected in a substantial rise in ‘race’ hate crimes before and following the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU in 2016 (Burnett, 2017).

This article reviews the design and delivery features of individualised budgets for disabled and older adults to understand the mechanisms for disaggregation and collaboration in the way support is organised and delivered. Individualised funding is often assumed to be a fragmenting force, breaking down mass provision into personalised and tailored support and stimulating diverse provider markets. However, disability campaigners and policy makers are keen that it also be an integrative force, to stimulate collaboration such that a person receives a ‘seamless’ service. The article brings out these tensions within the individualisation of funding and support for older and disabled people in the United Kingdom and Australia, and considers whether there is scope for reconciling these dual forces.

Economic sanctions have inflicted various economic difficulties on Iranian families. The extent to which these sanctions-induced calamities have affected Iranian older adults’ material well-being remains unknown. Meanwhile, inadequate institutional support for the disadvantaged older population may worsen their precarious economic well-being. We use household-level surveys and quantile regression analysis to explore changes in Iranian older persons’ material well-being during the sanctions era. We also examine whether Iran’s pension system has alleviated the adverse effects of economic sanctions. Our investigation indicates that older adults’ material well-being decreases during sanctions. However, those without pension coverage are economically more vulnerable compared with pensioners. Among the non-pensioners, low-income and low-consumption ones are susceptible to relatively more considerable material well-being losses. To protect these vulnerable groups, policymakers should implement appropriate policy interventions, such as expansions in non-contributory anti-poverty schemes.

Family background characteristics and educational resources are crucial in shaping individuals’ income and therefore a potential source of income inequality and inequality of opportunity. This article analyses inequalities in the Spanish diverse regions using data from the European Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Along this article we analyse the relevance of family background characteristics in shaping individuals’ opportunities as well as the role education plays in income inequality. Our findings show that family background characteristics are of great importance in shaping individuals’ performance and opportunities of achieving a certain level of income, well-being and education; also, educational variables at regional level, such as the education expenditure per student, are highly correlated to the levels of inequality. In view of the results, it would be advisable to implement public policies targeting vulnerable groups to ensure equal opportunities and invest in education given its potential as equalizer of income inequality.

This article draws on case study research of a low-income neighbourhood in Leeds to explore experiences of, and attitudes towards, place-based community. Through tracing social relations in the neighbourhood over time, from the early twentieth century to the present day, the ways in which community is embedded in everyday activities and social interactions, and the social impact of socioeconomic change on local neighbourhoods, is demonstrated. It is argued that the relentless and nostalgic focus on local communities as an idealised form of social solidarity has meant that the reasons why place-based community has declined over time have been overlooked. The article challenges the assumption that social fragmentation on neighbourhood levels necessarily indicates antisocial trends or a lack of a sense of duty towards others, and draws attention to the constraints people face in developing relationships with others. Questions are raised about the viability of top-down attempts to shape social relations in particular ways.

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the relationship between work and ageing has become increasingly visible as a policy issue. It is both reflected in and influenced by changes in macro-economic policy, life-opportunities and social attitudes associated with growing older, as a combination of falling birth rates and increased longevity, and has put pressure on the traditional parameters of the working age. The idea of retiring at a fixed point in the life-course, to enjoy a period of rest or leisure at the end of a working life, emerged in many advanced economies during the 1900s and evolved into policies that encouraged early retirement as the baby-boomers entered the jobs market in the 1960s and 1970s (Phillipson and Smith, 2005). Early retirement, itself a relatively recent development, gave rise to the possibility of a ‘third age’ of leisure and active ageing (Laslett, 1987), but as demographic and economic changes make themselves felt, it is again becoming an uncertain prospect for many older workers (Biggs and McGann, 2015).

This paper presents a case study of frauds committed by offshore companies in the California auto insurance market in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The opportunities for these crimes were created by two factors: the departure of legitimate insurance companies from the market and the adoption of deregulatory policies by state regulators. The case study illustrates some of the consequences of the increasingly common situation in the US in which consumers find themselves abandoned both by government and by legitimate providers of goods and services. The criminal consequences of this situation have also been observed in other markets.

The current article provides comparative analysis of policy capabilities in COVID-19 response in Russia and Finland by examining key challenges and impacts of the pandemic, and effects of anti-crisis socio-economic measures. It finds that the two countries adopted diverse policy responses that prioritised different segments of society with corresponding budget allocations. Such policy choice has been underpinned by pre-existing national priorities, while largely leveraging established policy legacy, institutions, and instruments within their welfare models. Russia has focused on supporting households through pro-natalist social assistance in line with its demographic concerns and persistent poverty, whereas Finland concentrated on protecting employment via social insurance and labour market interventions amid declining working-age population and labour supply. It is further suggested that improving policy capabilities via investments in comprehensive social security, welfare systems and gender-responsive policies can contribute to better development outcomes, while addressing gender power imbalances in the post-COVID-19 era.

Part 2 of the Housing Act (Wales) 2014 and its implementation has been keenly observed by governments outside of Wales, as they continue to search for policy solutions to help address the homelessness crisis. This article examines the extent to which there has been policy transfer from Wales to other national contexts and the potential for such transfer to occur in the future. It is identified that some transfer has already taken place within the UK and there is the potential for future policy transfer both within the UK and internationally. Adaptation to each of the new contexts is necessary to underpin successful transfer of provisions of the Act; however, outside of the UK this will need to be more extensive and include the introduction of a right to housing.

The crisis and dissonance in a society under globalisation tend to be associated with suspicion against the welfare state. This article however attempts to argue for the crucial role of the welfare state in the formation of the politics of welfare that shapes a basic framework for a policy response to changes in the welfare society. The discussion sets out by illustrating the impacts of globalisation in contemporary Japan with special reference to the change in family and working practices. It goes on to analyse the current policy debates regarding socialisation of care in which ideological conflicts are manifested. Despite growing vulnerability of the family in Japan's ageing society, informal care-giving work tends to be undervalued and the stigma attached to the welfare state regarding elderly care and public assistance is persistent. It will be discussed how the long-run welfare reforms, as efforts of policy change, can be made sense of in Japan for escaping from a vicious circle of crisis and dissonance.

Driven by the ageing process taking place in the Basque Autonomous Region (BAR), the ‘Age-Friendly Cities and Communities’ (AFCC) initiative has become a major political reference for the development of ageing policies in the territory. This article addresses this subject by means of a qualitative study that analyses how the three main capital cities in the region are implementing age-friendly strategies, with a focus on co-creation and co-production processes. The article examines the challenges they are currently facing in the development of the aforementioned participatory processes. Our research suggests that political involvement, even if necessary, is meaningless if the strategy is not embedded in the work of influential stakeholders. Moreover, the success of communities in becoming more age friendly will, to a large extent, depend on whether older people, including those facing social exclusion, become involved as key actors in future research and policies around age-friendly developments.

This article is a reflection on some of the discussions around faith and public life, within the context of Muslim communities and their interaction with public policy. It looks at the gap between popular debates on Muslims and the actual lived socio-economic reality of most people of Muslim background, and then goes on to look at aspects of identity formation and Muslim identity politics in the UK. It also considers the idea of integration and looks briefly at emerging Islamic discourses that are grappling with some of the challenges presented by modern British society. Finally, the article explores the role of faith in the public sphere and if it can help to build social capital and play a role in ideas such as the Big Society. The article concludes by emphasising the need to move beyond identity politics and communitarianism and asks where the real divides in society are – between religious and ideological groups or within them?

Authoritarianism seems to be emerging as the default mode of global capitalism. In the absence of reliable economic growth, and with working-class incomes in long-term stagnation, both liberal and social democratic parties have lost support in many countries, and authoritarian regimes have come to power in several. But poor people in the USA, UK and Europe have long experienced coercion, being forced to accept low-paid, insecure work or face benefits sanctions. As a growing proportion of workers have come to rely on supplements such as tax credits, the working class has been divided, and opportunistic authoritarian politicians have mobilised the anxiety and resentment of those on the margins of poverty. This article argues that only an active civil society, with voluntary agencies uncompromised by involvement in coercive policies, along with universal, unconditional Basic Incomes for all citizens, can reverse these trends.

Active labour market policy (ALMP) has emerged as a major topic of inquiry among comparative scholars in recent decades, alongside other social investments. However, few conclusive results have been produced regarding the political explanations of these policies, and not least the role of partisan politics. To help remedy this problem, this article proposes a new understanding of ALMP as a profoundly versatile set of ‘multi-purpose tools’ that policymakers across the political spectrum can use as a means to very different distributional ends. Specifically, it highlights how ALMP programmes vary in terms of 1) their target groups, 2) their intended labour market outcomes, and 3) their modes of production in politically salient ways. Informed by the new framework and by recent research, the article then develops a refined theory about how governments with different left–right placement, operating under economic and institutional constraints, affect ALMP development in different directions.

This article reports on a study assessing the incentives and deterrents to long-term care (LTC) supply in two local markets in England. The supply of LTC in many countries is facing the issues of rising demand, (lack of) workforce and the interaction of the public and private sectors. Findings from qualitative interviews of local council and provider stakeholders exploring barriers and enablers faced by LTC providers in two local authorities (LAs) are presented and discussed. The interviews provided insight in three main areas: staffing, demand and stakeholder relationships. Staffing, in particular, is crucial and we found that there are many difficulties for providers in maintaining their workforce. Consistent with previous research, we also found that public spending levels on LTC puts pressure on providers striving to maintain a good quality service, including improved remuneration of staff.

This article seeks to understand the challenges of combining the distinct aims of personalisation and integration in adult social care. Addressing the local context of service delivery in England through interviews with key stakeholders, we identify how personalisation and integration activities require different, and potentially conflicting, approaches. We observe direct tensions when structural integration with health systems distracts focus from achieving personalised delivery of care or where a focus on clinical outcomes takes precedence over broader wellbeing aspirations. Integration can entail the prioritisation of health over social care and a population rather than personal orientation. We suggest that personalisation and integration are in ‘policy conflict’ (Weible and Heikkila, 2017) and that policy-makers need to acknowledge and address this rather than promise the ‘best of both worlds’.

Informed by moral economy theories, this article presents a qualitative study of the normative construction of and contestation over a new in-work benefit in Hong Kong, the Low-income Working Family Allowance (LIFA). Using a policy stakeholder approach to examining the public’s ideas and justifications of LIFA, the findings reveal the eligibility-defined entitlement shared by claimants, scepticism towards long working hours conditionality required by LIFA, complex understanding of deservingness and self-reliance, and dissatisfaction with the closing gap between welfare and wages. This article connects moral economy theories to the normative basis of a social security system, offering insights for capturing the dynamics of consensus and controversies about social welfare. It also extends the research on morality and social welfare from Western countries to an Asian context. The case of Hong Kong evidences how policy stakeholders make moral sense of a new welfare in the absence of social right language.

When the measurement of inequality is being considered in Ireland and the UK the poor and socially excluded are routinely the focus of debate. Building on methodology developed in New Zealand this paper outlines the development of a more wide ranging approach through the construction of a Northern Ireland Living Standard Index (NILSI). It then utilises this tool to explore dimensions of inequality in Northern Ireland and present findings on the living standards of different subgroups.

As this themed section has illustrated, understanding and supporting families with multiple and complex needs is an area of policy and practice that is gaining importance and emphasis in the UK. This growth in interest is reflected in the developing field of family focused policy and practice work. In this article, we review a range of recent government-led initiatives and interventions developed principally through the Cabinet Office's Social Exclusion Task Force Think Family initiative. Whilst we recognise that there are a number of related policy documents and initiatives (many of which are discussed by Murray and Barnes in this edition), we choose to focus on Think Family due to its emphasis on a ‘whole family’ approach for families facing multiple sources of disadvantage.