Over the past few years, a consensus has grown among European policy specialists that kinship should play a larger role in the welfare state. "Family, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe" examines the fundamental questions about such kinship ties and seeks to understand how and why family members help each other and in what circumstances they might withhold their aid. The editors and their collaborators have gathered here three volumes of historical, sociological, and ethnographic studies that inform readers about the diversity of kin relationships in contemporary Europe, the strengths and weaknesses of the various systems, and the extent to which each can be influenced - for better or worse - by the state. Historical and comparative analyses track the impact of political and economic change and show how marriage, cohabitation, fertility rates, and population aging affects the performance and structure of these kinship networks.
