Now fully updated and expanded, the new second edition of this well established textbook will remain a key book for students of Social Policy and other Sociology related disciplines. The 22 chapters cover a wide variety of social policy and welfare issues each written by an expert in the field. A selection of new chapters have been added and existing chapters have been thoroughly reviewed to take into account recent changes in British and European social policy. Readers are introduced to the key evidence and the main questions about social policy and welfare systems. A central objective of the book is to show how social research can inform social policy debates. The book focuses mainly on social policy in the United Kingdom, but frequent comparisons are drawn with developments elsewhere in the European Union and the United States. The chapters are written in a non technical way and are supported by detailed case study material and a variety of boxes, summaries and discussion questions designed to make the text accessible to students. Each chapter also contains clear chapter objectives, a glossary and suggestions for further reading. New to this edition are - there are a number of new chapters which reflect the latest developments and trends in this area: Social Policy and the Development of Modern Social Welfare Systems; Welfare, Media and Culture; Welfare, Identity and the Life Course; Economics and Public Expenditure Decision Making; The Role of the Voluntary and Non-Governmental Sector; Health and Health Policy; Comparative Social Policy and the European Union; and New Thinking in Social Welfare.