Providing a short and lively introduction for all students new to social policy, this text analyses how healthcare and education, jobs and money and even physical and emotional security are mediated through social policy

This volume addresses the origin and effects of advantage and disadvantage from a global and UK perspective, and provides an overview of of a variety of conceptual frameworks and a spectrum of social inequalities, processes, and divisions.

'Work-life balance' generally refers to how people may combine paid employment with family responsibilities. The UK government's attempts to promote work-life balance are connected to wider concerns to maximise labour-force participation and include policies on tax credits, child care and...