Table of Contents

Part 1 Economic policy and social protection: changing course in economic policy - the English-speaking nations in the 1980s; the politics of price stability - why the German-speaking nations are different; worlds of welfare and families of nations. Part 2 The Politics of labour supply: coping with economic crisis - labour supply as a policy instrument; gendered labour force participation. Part 3 Families and families of nations: the politics of childhood - the rights of children in modern times; why divorce rates differ - law, religious belief and modernity; conclusion - beyond the lonely nation state.