Families, Social Work and the Welfare State: Where Contemporary 'Family' Meets Policy and Practice Introduction

This themed section brings together the disciplines of sociology, social work and social policy in order to examine the ways in which contemporary familial diversity is recognised in comparative welfare state regimes. Contributors interrogate the ways in which such diversity is supported in national legislation, policy developments and acknowledged in everyday social work practice. In doing so, the section examines if and how these demographic trends and sociological conceptualisations are reflected in comparative welfare state systems and/or policy related to family. Selected articles will also consider if and how social workers, as street level bureaucrats' (Lipsky, 1980), incorporate these changes in familial structures, and related policy, into their decision making processes and everyday practice.