LINDA HANTRAIS is Emeritus Professor of European Social Policy at Loughborough University, UK, Visiting Fellow in the Centre for International Studies, London School of Economics, and a Member of the Academy of Social Sciences, UK. She has convened over 40 seminars and training workshops on comparative international research theory, methodology and practice, and has coordinated a number of European Commission-funded comparative research projects on public policy and institutional structures, while also acting as expert advisor and policy reviewer for the Commission. Her publications include three editions of Social Policy in the European Union and Family Policy Matters: responding to family change in Europe.