Death and Social Policy in Challenging Times

Liam Foster is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Sheffield, UK. His research interests focus on funeral provision, pensions and theories of ageing. He is a member of the UK Social Policy Association Executive Committee and forthcoming Managing Editor of Social Policy and Society.Kate Woodthorpe is a Senior Lecturer in sociology in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath, UK. She is a member of the University's Centre for Death and Society and has undertaken research and published on funeral practice and cost, cemetery usage and mortuaries. She is an active member of the British Sociological Association Study Group for the Social Aspects of Death, Dying and Bereavement.

• 1. Introduction Why Death Matters To Policy; Liam Foster; Kate WoodthorpePART I: MANAGING THE END OF LIFE2. Social Policy And Care Of Older People At The End Of Life; Julie Ellis, Michelle Winslow And Bill Noble 3. End Of Life Care Strategy And The Coalition Government; Erica Borgstrom4. Euthanasia And Policy – Choosing When To Die; Naomi RichardsPART II: WHEN DEATH OCCURS5. Funerals – Welfare Policy To The Grave; Liam Foster; Kate Woodthorpe 6. Cost, Choice And Diversity: Policy Issues In Burial And Cremation In England; Julie Rugg7. Marginalised Deaths And Policy; Christine Valentine And Linda BauldPART III: BEYOND THE POINT OF DEATH: THE AFTERMATH8. Bereavement Support In Later Life: An Emerging Social Problem For The 21st Century; Jodie Croxall 9. Bereavement And The Workplace; Anne Corden10. Great Expectations? Wealth, Inheritance And Taxation; Karen Rowlingson 11. Conclusion – Where Do We Go From Here?; Liam Foster; Kate Woodthorpe

"This timely and comprehensive edited collection aims to re-embed death and dying in social policy debates in the UK and beyond. The individual chapters provide a wide-ranging approach to death, dying and disposal as a welfare issue covering End of Life Care through death and its aftermath. Contemporary social policy frameworks, their impact, both economic and emotional, and potential developments are critically examined in the context of a growing and increasingly diverse population in 21st century UK. It provides a cohesive and thoughtful volume for scholars and researchers within social policy, sociology, history and planning as well as death studies." - Julie Seymour, Hull York Medical School, UK   "This edited collection identifies and offers a careful and current exploration of a broad range of policy challenges and debates highly relevant to dying, death and bereavement. The collection of chapters covers a lot a ground to highlight the significance of the policy arena far beyond 'death-specific policy'. It provoke new ways of critical thinking about existing policy frameworks which to date have paid little attention to the universal yet diverse experiences of dying, death and bereavement. With an emphasis on UK policy it also highlights how these are international concerns too. An accessible 'must read' for practitioners, policy makers as well as scholars and researchers across a range of disciplines." - Kathryn Almack, University of Nottingham, UK