This special issue of the Zeitschrift für Familienforschung is based on policy reports for a comparative project that investigated the interaction between changing family forms, changing employment patterns, and family policies in the Nordic Countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway), The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and G- many. The project was financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers' Welfare Research Programme (2002-2005). Jonathan Bradshaw, Professor of Social Policy, University of York, UK, and Aksel Hatland, Research Director, NOVA, Oslo, Norway, chaired the p- ject. The project team included senior national experts and younger researchers from each country in the study. These were: National experts Peter Abrahamson: Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Ulla Björnberg: Professor of Sociology, Goteborg University, Sweden Dr. Gudny Björk Eydal: Lecturer in Social Work and Sociology, University of Reykjavik, Iceland Katja Forssén: Professor of Social Work, University of Turku, Finland Trudie Knijn: Professor of Social Science, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Stefan Olafsson: Professor of Sociology, University of Reykjavik, Iceland Ilona Ostner: Professor of Social Policy, University of Göttingen, Germany Dr. Anne Skevik: Senior Researcher, NOVA, Oslo, Norway Veli-Matti Ritakallio: Professor of Social Policy, University of Turku, Finland Young researchers Lillemor Dahlgren: Research Assistant, Dept. of Sociology, Goteborg University, Sweden Dr. Naomi Finch: Research Fellow, Social Policy Research Unit, University of York, UK Anne-Mari Jaakola: Doctoral Student, Dept.

Ilona Ostner is Professor of Social Policy at the Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Faculty of Social Science.

Christoph Schmitt teaches social policy at the Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Faculty of Social Science.

Part I Nordic welfare states - 'Defamilisation' and 'Individualisation' - Family Policy. The Case of Sweden - Current Issues of Family Policy in Denmark - Family Policy in Finland - Family Policy in Norway - Family Policy in Iceland: An Overview - Part II Varieties of 'Familism' - Family Policy in the UK - Private Responsibility and Some Support. Family Policy in the Netherlands - Family Policies in Germany - Comparison and Conclusion with articles by Ulla Björnberg and Lillemor Dahlgren, Peter Abrahamson and Cecilie Wehner, Katja Forssén, Anne-Mari Jaakola, and Veli-Matti Ritakallio, Anne Skevik and Aksel Hatland, Gudný Björk Eydal and Stefán Ólafsson, Trudie Knijn, Sigrid Leitner, Ilona Ostner,and Christoph Schmitt