Books published by Policy Press

This report presents critical new evidence on the size of the widening health gap. New geographical data are presented and displayed in striking graphical form. The widening gap should be read alongside Inequalities in health: The evidence presented to the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health (The Policy Press, 1999).

Challenging populist views about the white working class in the US, this book showcases what they really think about the defining issues in today's America. As the 2020 presidential elections draw near, this is an invaluable insight into the complex views on 2016 election candidates, race, identity and cross-racial connections.

Love them or hate them, most of us have an opinion about cars. If not the cars themselves, then it's driver competence and behaviour that can offend us. And then there's modification: alloy wheels, custom audio systems and bespoke paint jobs. For some, changing the look, feel and sound of a car says something about themselves, but for others, such enhancements signify a lack of taste, or even criminality. In subtle and complex ways, cars transmit and modify our identities behind the wheel. As a symbol of independence and freedom, the car projects status, class, taste and, significantly, embeds racialisation. Using fascinating research from drivers, including first-person accounts as well as exploring hip-hop music and car-related TV shows, Alam unpicks the ways in which identity is rehearsed, enhanced, interpreted.

This volume provides an international perspective on parental leave policies in different countries, goes beyond this to examine a range of issues in depth, and aims to stimulate thinking about possible futures and how policy might underpin them.

We praise those people who do things for others. But the symbolic power of giving means glow of 'goodness' that charity provides can be taken advantage of. Drawing on original data and Bourdieu's sociology, this book examines a wide range of charity examples to provide an entertaining critique of how contemporary charity works.

Analysis that links the phenomenon of homelessness to wider debates about the changing social and economic environment remains relatively underdeveloped. This important book brings together contemporary debates and empirical research in order to explore the nature, experience and impact of social change in the context of risks and uncertainties.

This book shows how community groups can work in partnership with universities to imagine better futures and make them happen, co-producing knowledge to achieve positive change.

This book shows how community groups can work in partnership with universities to imagine better futures and make them happen, co-producing knowledge to achieve positive change.

Research into minimum income standards and reference budgets around the world is compared in this illuminating collection from leading academics in the field.

With almost daily reports of failings in school management, what can be done to improve educational outcomes for everyone? Pat Thomson takes on England's muddled education system, highlighting failings caused by the actions of ministers in successive governments. While corrupt actions are taken by some, it is predominantly the corruption of the system that is at fault. She exposes fraudulent and unethical practices, including the skewing of the curriculum and manipulation of results, and argues for an urgent review, leading to a revitalised education system that has the public good at its heart.

Using a wide range of case studies, this edited collection shows how community engagement and co-creation is challenging and extending the notion of the archive.

Uses a wide range of international case studies from the Global South to examine the stark repercussions of colonial conquest on children's lives and childhood policy today. Liebel shows the work that we must do to decolonize childhoods globally and ensure that children's rights are better promoted and protected.

Governments worldwide assume that national competitiveness can be improved by developing workforce skills. This book critically examines this 'high skills' vision at both policy and practice levels. It challenges an oversimplified policy rhetoric that underestimates the complexity of the processes involved in developing a skilled workforce.

Governments worldwide assume that national competitiveness can be improved by developing workforce skills. This book critically examines this 'high skills' vision at both policy and practice levels. It challenges an oversimplified policy rhetoric that underestimates the complexity of the processes involved in developing a skilled workforce.

To understand contemporary ageing it is necessary to recognise its diversity. Drawing on an extraordinary range of theory, original research and empirical sources, this book assesses the stereotyped conceptions of ageing, and offers a critical and updated perspective.

This study critically examines the role of housing associations in responding to the needs of women who have become homeless due to domestic violence.

Throughout the European Union, rates of unemployment among young people tend to be higher than among the general population and there is a serious risk of marginalisation and exclusion. This important new book presents the findings of the first comparative study of unemployed youth in Europe using a large and original data set.

This book presents a psychosocial examination of changing relationships between service users, professionals and managers in the post-war welfare state. It challenges current emphasis on consumer rights by linking social responsibility to its psychosocial roots and theorises the links between experiences of care and development of social policy.

Describing social assistance 'careers' in different national and urban contexts, this innovative book documents the strong interplay between personal biographies and policy patterns - a particularly useful perspective which complements the more structural, top-down approach of much international work in social policy.

Managing public services innovation provides an in-depth exploration of innovation and its management in the housing association sector. Drawing on longitudinal case studies and data sets, it explores techniques to develop evidence-based policy in the housing association sector, and makes recommendations for best practice.

'An offer you can't refuse' compares, in depth, international 'work-for-welfare' (workfare) policies objectively for the first time. It considers well-publicised schemes from the United States alongside more overlooked examples of workfare in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Norway.

This important reference work describes the educational systems, labour markets and welfare production regimes in the ten new Central and Eastern Europe countries.

This book examines ways to understand and engage with the troublesome concept of 'community', presenting a variety of perspectives to challenge the ways in which areas of poverty and disrepute are represented.

Supported by 20 years of extensive, international research, this approachable text brings invaluable insights into the underlying problems within education policy, and proposes practical solutions for a brighter future.

A multidisciplinary collection examining how cultural engagement can enhance resilience, reduce social isolation and help older people to thrive and overcome challenging life events and everyday problems associated with ageing.

Taking a life course and generational perspective, this collection examines topics such as work-life balance, transnational families, digital storytelling and mobile parenting. It offers tools that allow for an informed and critical understanding of ICTs and family dynamics.

This volume provides the first comprehensive overview of the state of policy analysis in Turkey for an international audience. It will be a valuable resource for those studying policy analysis within Turkey and as a comparison with other volumes in the International Library of Policy Analysis Series.