Handbook of Family Policies Across the Globe

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-vii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Family Policies Across the Globe: Development, Implementation, and Assessment

      • Mihaela Robila

      Pages 3-11

3. Family Policies in Africa

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 13-13

      PDF

   2. Toward Sustainable Family Policies in Sierra Leone: Developments and Recommendations

      • Adeyinka M. Akinsulure-Smith, Hawthorne E. Smith

      Pages 15-29

   3. Public Policy and Families in Kenya

      • Dorothy O. Rombo, Stephan M. Wilson, Lauren M. Oseland

      Pages 31-46

   4. Child- and Family-Focused Policy in Botswana

      • Randy Leite

      Pages 47-57

   5. Family Policy in South Africa

      • Zitha Mokomane

      Pages 59-73

4. Family Policies in Europe

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 75-75

      PDF

   2. Family Policies in Norway

      • Mette L. Baran, Evan E. Diehnelt, Janice E. Jones

      Pages 77-90

   3. Families and Family Policies in Sweden

      • Michael B. Wells, Disa Bergnehr

      Pages 91-107

   4. Family Policies: The Case of Iceland

      • Guðný Björk Eydal, Ingólfur V. Gíslason

      Pages 109-124

   5. Family Policy in Ireland

      • Tony Fahey, Elizabeth Nixon

      Pages 125-136

   6. Family Policy in Germany

      • Eileen Trzcinski, Jessica K. Camp

      Pages 137-153

   7. Family Patterns of Change in Italy: Challenges, Conflicts, Policies, and Practices

      • Giovanna Gianesini

      Pages 155-174

   8. Family Policies in Spain

      • Antía Pérez-Caramés

      Pages 175-194

   9. Family Policies in Portugal

      • Maria das Dores Guerreiro

      Pages 195-210

   10. Family Policies in Moldova

       • Valentina Bodrug-Lungu, Mihaela Robila

       Pages 211-222

   11. Family Policy in Russia: Folkways Versus Stateways Revisited

       • Zhanna Kravchenko, Irina Grigoryeva

       Pages 223-237

   12. For Whose Sake Is It Anyway? Evaluation of Explicit Family Policies in Turkey

       • Aslı Çarkoğlu, Nilüfer Kafescioğlu

       Pages 239-254

Family policy holds a particular status in the quest for a more equitable world as it intersects the rights of women, children, and workers. But despite local and global efforts and initiatives, the state of family policy in different areas of the world varies widely.

Through a cross-section of countries on six continents, Family Policies Across the Globe offers the current state of the laws concerning family life, structure, and services, providing historical, cultural, and socioeconomic context. Lucidly written chapters analyze key aspects of family definition, marriage, child well-being, work/family balance, and family assistance, reviewing underlying social issues and controversies as they exist in each country. Details of challenges to implementation and methods of evaluating policy outcomes bring practical realities into sharp focus, and each chapter concludes with recommendations for improvement at the research, service, and governmental levels. The result is an important comparative look at how governments support families, and how societies perceive themselves as they evolve. Among the issues covered:

• Sierra Leone: toward sustainable family policies.
• Russia: folkways versus state-ways.
• Japan: policy responses to a declining population.
• Australia: reform, revolutions, and lingering effects.
• Canada: a patchwork policy.
• Colombia: a focus on policies for vulnerable families.

Researchers

, professors and graduate students in the fields of social policy, child and family studies, psychology, sociology, and social work will find in Family Policies Across the Globe a reference that will grow in importance as world events continue to develop.

• Child and Family-focused Policy
• Divorce Law
• Domestic Violence Prevention Act
• Domestic violence laws
• Evidence-based Family Policy
• Families and Immigration
• Families and Poverty
• Families in Africa
• Family Policies from a Global Perspective
• Family Policy in Australia
• Family Policy in Europe
• Family Policy in South America
• Family Well-being
• Family policy development
• Family policy implementation
• Family-friendly Work Practices
• International Family Policy
• One-Child Policy
• Welfare System
• Work-life Balance

“The Handbook of Family Policies Across the Globe is a collaborative effort of internationally renowned experts on family policies, practices, and research. … Handbook of Family Policies Across the Globe can be used as a complementary resource for graduate social policy courses as well as a general guidebook for practitioners. … It is an exceptionally valuable field manual for social work in an international context.” (Shaynah Neshama Bannister, Global Social Welfare, August, 2015)

• Family Studies, City University of New Y, Queens College, Flushing, USA

  Mihaela Robila

Mihaela Robila, Ph.D., CFLE, is Associate Professor of Family Studies at Queens College of the City University of New York. Her scholarship is focused on family policies, family relations, economic pressure and immigration. She wrote a book on “Eastern European Immigrant Families” (2010; Routledge), edited a book on “Families in Eastern Europe” (2004; Elsevier), and published 21 articles in peer-reviewed journals. She organized several symposiums and presented her work at over 60 national and international conferences. She was invited and participated to two United Nations Expert Group Meetings on Family Policy in 2009 and 2011. Her work has been supported by grants from Spencer Foundation, U.S. Department of State/American Councils for International Education, Fahs Beck Fund for Research, CUNY Research Foundation, and Jacobs Foundation. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and was awarded the Carolyn Attneave Diversity Award by the APA Division 43 – Society for Family Psychology.

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