In the eighth edition of this highly successful text, the authors seek to develop readers’ appreciation of the key substantive areas of social policy but also the context and processes which surround their development.

With case studies reviewing contemporary topics and examples, new chapters, and a greater emphasis on key principles, themes, and issues within the policy areas, this revised and updated edition combines an assessment of the breadth of social policy study and considers policy changes since the previous edition.

Written for people who have had no previous training in the social sciences, with the needs of social workers, nurses, health visitors, and other social policy ‘practitioners’ very much in mind, as well as those studying social policy, the eighth edition of Understanding Social Policy brings a classic textbook right up to date.

Michael Hill is Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and Visiting Professor at Queen Mary College, University of London and the University of Brighton. He is the author of numerous books on Social Policy and the study of policy processes.

Zoë Irving is lecturer in Comparative Social Policy at the University of Sheffield. She is co-editor of Policy Reconsidered, Meanings Politics and Practices (2007) and has published in the areas of gender and employment and learning and teaching Social Policy.