Vulnerabilities, Care and Family Law

Family life is now recognised as a potential site of vulnerabilities, where care work can go unacknowledged, and be a source of social and economic hardship. Vulnerabilities, Care and Family Law addresses the strong relationships that exist between vulnerability, care and dependency in particular contexts, where family law and social policy have a contribution to make. The first book of its kind to provide an intersectional approach to this subject, this title will be of interest to anyone concerned with how developments in social policy and family law might improve the lives of already exposed and fragile families.

While in the past family life was characterised as a "haven from the harsh realities of life", it is now recognised as a site of vulnerabilities and a place where care work can go unacknowledged and be a source of social and economic hardship. This book addresses the strong relationships that exist between vulnerability and care and dependency in particular contexts, where family law and social policy have a contribution to make.

A fundamental premise of this collection is that vulnerability needs to be analysed in a way that gets at the heart of the differential power relationships that exist in society, particularly in respect of access to family justice, including effective social policy and law targeted at the specific needs of families in mutually dependent caring relationships. It is therefore crucial to critically examine the various approaches taken by policy makers and law reformers in order to understand the range of ways that some families, and some family members, may be rendered more vulnerable than others.

The first book of its kind to provide an intersectional approach to this subject, Vulnerabilities, Care and Family Law will be of interest to students and practitioners of social policy and family law.