'This book, edited by three well-known and widely respected academics reflects the diversity of social care while simultaneously striving to identify common patterns, trends and underpinning philosophies. It makes an important new contribution to understanding why patterns of social care differ between and within countries, and the consequences of these variations. In explaining contemporary patterns of social care for children and older people in the countries studied, the contributors turn to historical accounts to explain the current apparent lack of coherence. Underpinning the diverse patterns of social care development are the transformation of social care from a private good to a public commodity; tensions between universality and selectivity; and new tensions between individual rights and family responses. As well as providing detailed and up to the minute accounts of the different care systems in the countries studied, this book makes a major new contribution to our understanding of the complex and conflicting pressures underlying post-industrial welfare states.' - Caroline Glendinning, University of Manchester, UK This is a comparative account of social care services for children and older people in five key industrial nations (Finland, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States). The authors break new ground by moving beyond institutional description and seeking to understand the normative and moral qualities of welfare systems. The book builds on existing theories of welfare state regimes by extending the analysis to the arena of social care. A full and fascinating account is provided of the historical, economic and political origins of childcare and care for older people in each of the five countries. These analyses are then used as the basis for a theoretical account of the developmental trajectories of social care systems. The book proposes that there are common pressures at work in all industrial nations driving their welfare systems to similar forms of organisation and structure. However, these trends are mediated by important differences in culture and history. The Young, the Old and the State is an eminently readable and accessible book, and will be warmly welcomed by academics and researchers in social and public policy, health and social care and welfare economics. It will also be of interest to policymakers and NGOs involved in welfare and social care provision and provide a useful source for students on undergraduate and graduate programmes.