Overstretched provides fresh perspectives on the reality of European family life where care and paid work need to be woven together on a daily basis, offering an opportunity to discuss and evaluate care policies in a new light.

Combining work and care responsibilities is a challenge faced by families in many industrialized nations. This volume focuses on the everyday life of families who live under particularly strained conditions; that is, lone parent families, immigrant families, dual career families, and families who care simultaneously for both their children and an elderly family member. It provides a new perspective on the reality of European family life where care and paid work need to woven together on a daily basis.

The book develops methods for doing comparative qualitative analysis in practice, bringing an original approach to social research. It offers new insights into the perennial problems of gender balance in caring, and the significance of cultural notions and working hours to the organization of care. Overstretched is based on interviews with families from Finland, France, Italy, Portugal and the UK, and makes it possible to discuss care policies in these and other countries in a new light.

Broadening Perspectives on Social Policy
The object of this series, in this age of re-thinking on social welfare, is to bring fresh points of view and to attract fresh audiences to the mainstream of social policy debate.

The choice of themes is designed to feature issues of major interest and concern, such as are already stretching the boundaries of social policy.
This is the seventh collection of paper in the series.