Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents: Common themes, methodological approach, and main findings -- Child poverty and deprivation: From the golden age, to stagnation, to transition -- Child poverty and deprivation in the industrialized countries from the End of World War II to the end of the Cold War Era -- Growth, public expenditure, and household welfare in industrialized countries -- Investing in children: government expenditure for children and their families in Western Industrialized Countries -- Family policies in Eastern Europe: from socialism to the market -- National case-studies: Child poverty and deprivation in Russia: Improvement, standstill, and retrogression -- The America paradox: High income and high child poverty -- Child welfare in the United Kingdom: Rising poverty, falling priorities for children -- Child welfare in Portugal amidst fast growth and weak social policy -- Growth, regional imbalance, and child well-being: Italy over over the last four decades -- Advancing for children in the advanced welfare state: Current problems and prospects in Sweden -- Child well-being in Japan: The high cost of economic success -- Emerging problems in the post-cold war era: Recession, social policy, and child welfare in Post-Communist Eastern Europe: Which way ahead? -- Making social policy work for children: Towards a more effective antipoverty policy.