As women have become increasingly integrated into the waged labor force around the world, the idea of childcare has found its way onto the political agenda in every country in the developed world. Experimentation with different social safety-nets is at the heart of contemporary debates, as are innovative mixes of public and private provisions. Whether childcare is seen as part of society's educational policy, welfare policy, or employment policy affects not only its form and content but also its public image. The US and Canada are reforming welfare and instituting workfare, but Sweden has recently experimented with promoting private services to reduce the size of its public sector and offer citizens more "choice." The Netherlands, Germany and other members of the EU are focusing on sharing work between women and men by increasing leisure and "family time." The contributors use current polices for the care of infants and preschool children to analyze debates and track the emergence of new state welfare practices across a variety of social and political configurations-and offer some conclusions about which methods work the best. Contributors include: Deborah Brennan, Rianne Mahon, Susan Phillips, Jane Jenson, Anette Borchorst, George Ross, Mariette Sineau, Vincent Della Sala, Ito Peng, Jet Bussemaker, Celia Valiente, Christin