An alarming drop in population numbers has been observed in many of the transitional countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Bloc since the collapse of communism in the region. This paper documents the extent and causes of the crisis. The author finds wanting the currently fashionable...

This paper looks at how the transition from the planned to the free market economy has altered the nature of state protective child care provision in Central and Eastern Europe. The old systems were run according to an underlying state ideology that stressed an insensitive ‘medical model’ of...

This paper develops a framework by which the impact of decentralization of government on child welfare can be assessed. Consistent with the child welfare perspective, it is suggested that equity should be given greatest weight, in terms of both equality of opportunity and progress in reducing...

The propagandists of ancien regime Russia and Eastern Europe portrayed state family support policies as models of care and efficiency. The collapse of communism revealed that this was a much distorted picture of the reality. But the positive work of these schemes should not be forgotten. Help...