Social Policy: A Comparative Analysis is an overview of Social policy which deals with policy issues, rather than offering descriptions of counting specific policies. In doing so it introduces key concepts, issues about the performance of policies and the ways in which writers have sought to explain policy characteristics, showing how specific policies and policy systems vary throughout the developed world. The book is divided into three parts. Part I provides the theoretical, historical and comparative contexts for the book: Part II looks at a range of policy areas in detail and Part III addresses isues concerning social divisions of welfare.