Family Well-Being: European Perspectives (Social Indicators Research Series Book 49)

In the international literature there is a broad scope for comparative research on the welfare regime, family change and gender relations, but we have no book that comprehensively collects the main research that has been conducted from the perspective of family well-being. Thus, this volume focuses on the comparative analyse of family and well-being in a European perspective, a dimension which literature has not covered till the present. This book collects the researches done in Europe on family well-being and compares family change and well-being in different institutional and cultural contexts. It takes a deeper look at early evidence of family well-being and presents a compilation of findings from the main researchers on this topic. A broad range of topics is covered from the theorizing of children’s well-being to the development of specific measures of family well-being. The book also outlines pivotal methodological and conceptual issues. A distinguished, international group of researchers provide insights into the dynamics of family change and well-being, using indicators as a means to confront new phenomena as well as to bridge data and theory. Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-6 Front Matter....Pages 7-7 Conceptualizing Family Well-Being....Pages 9-25 Social Quality, the Quality of Life and Parents with Young Children in Europe....Pages 27-51 Front Matter....Pages 53-53 Child Poverty and Child Well-Being in Italy in a Comparative Framework....Pages 55-72 Child Well-Being and Lone Parenthood Across the OECD....Pages 73-100 Front Matter....Pages 101-101 Parental Leave Policies, Gender Equity and Family Well-Being in Europe: A Comparative Perspective....Pages 103-129 New Social Risks and Work-Family Balance....Pages 131-149 Spousal Well-Being: An Inquiry into the Links Between Household Income and Parental Task Division....Pages 151-175 Working Parents, Family and Gender in Spain from an European Comparative Perspective....Pages 177-201 Measuring the Past: Gender, Health and Welfare in Europe Since c. 1800....Pages 203-221 Front Matter....Pages 223-223 Support and Success in Youth Transitions: A Comparative Analysis on the Relation Between Subjective and Systemic Factors....Pages 225-241 Policies to Support Carers....Pages 243-260 Caught Between a Troubled Past and an Uncertain Future: The Well-Being of Asylum-Seeking Children in Sweden....Pages 261-275 Empowerment, Well-Being and the Welfare State: Family Social Work in Spain....Pages 277-301 Back Matter....Pages 303-306 This ground-breaking work plugs a yawning gap in the methods developed by social scientists to measure 'well-being', which to date have not featured a targeted measure of this variable for family groups. As Southern European societies crack under the strain of austerity programs imposed as a response to the current financial crisis, measuring the well-being of families is becoming an ever more urgent task. The contributors call for the gathering of data on a more broad-based definition of the family that accounts for social changes in recent decades. These changes have been seismic, with dramatic increases in globalization, population aging, labor force restructuring, increases in participation by mothers in the labor force, and single-parent families. This greater diversity in family structure makes the proposals put forward here a welcome addition to the debate, advocating a more inclusive understanding of how various families are impacted by the influences of social change, and arguing that these indices are essential to guide research, policy development, resource allocation and social evaluation