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Pierre Laroque (ed.). The Social Institutions of France , Gordon and Breach, New York and London, 1984. xxii + 802 pp. $190.00.

Pierre Laroque (ed.), The Social Institutions of France, Gordon and Breach, New York and London, 1984. xxii + 802 pp. $190.00. This is a badly needed work for it is an up-dated edition of Social Welfare in France, which appeared in English in 1963. The change of title is significant for the coverage has been considerably extended and the book ranges very widely indeed. The emphasis is upon policy and the institutions through which it is applied rather than upon the social institution itself, but policy includes issues such as environmental health, urban transport and rural development as well as the more traditional social policy concerns of income maintenance, health, education and family policy. Many individuals have contributed to it but they seem all to be persons in official positions presenting the official view. The book is described by the editor as 'totally descriptive, attempting to provide as factual a picture as possible, it excludes all attempts at criticism' (p.xxii). Possibly because it has this status it has no bibliography. A comparison with the earlier edition makes it possible to detect the emergence of some of the main themes of French social policy during the past twenty years. Family policy has had to be adapted to the changing position of women, fewer births, a rising divorce rate and more single parents. Such factors have called for a re-examination of the purposes of family policy which today relate to the creation of a society in which all children are wanted and are born into conditions favourable for their development rather than to a preoccupation with demographic worries and the simple payment of cash allowances. Policy emphasis is still on horizontal redistribution (p.326). A striking evolution of employment policy has occurred. ' The maintenance and promotion of employment has been a great national priority since 1974' (p.460). This is not a reference to macro-economic policy but an introduction to a wide variety of employment services. The restructuring of industry, the malfunctioning of the labour market, the need to react to large-scale and frequent redundancies and to recast the system of unemployment benefit have resulted in a chapter which gives detailed and comprehensive treatment to the services now provided. Similarly, the institutional arrangements for social security, for health care and the new interest in a policy for the elderly are set out. The discussion of the social aspects of the planning system and the much more detailed explanation concerning the social budget reflect the evolution of the plan and the greater sophistication of official accounting systems respectively. Unfortunately, we have to make do with statistics relating to the late 1970s since the book was completed in France in 1980.