Changing Relations of Welfare is concerned with the complexities of family relations and practices in the recent past and how these have been imagined, addressed or elided in policy making. It Offers an innovative approach to the analysis of meanings afforded to the family in different policy, legal and welfare contexts in Sweden, Denmark and Britain. Through rich and varied sources, which include policy documents, government commissions, ethnographic research and interviews, the book explores a range of issues that are of pressing concern in contemporary Europe and examines the legacy of norms and values that informed family-Oriented policy and practice through the 20th century.<BR><BR>With chapters organized around the themes of marriage, parenthood and employment in family policy, and migration and multiculturalism, this book investigates how debates about responsibility, obligation and rights have been gendered in social policy and welfare practice. It also considers the intersections of family, gender, race and nationality and the different ways in which legislation and policy in northern Europe have been used to regulate not only immigration but also the lives of migrant families.<BR><BR>Presenting a historically informed, comparative analysis of the shifting dynamics in the relationship between family and the state, this volume offers new pathways for exploring questions of change and continuity.