Improved health and better quality of life are ultimate goals for welfare policies. To achieve these goals solid information is needed about living conditions in general, as well as for groups that are particularly dependent on welfare state arrangements. How does social inequality in health manifest itself in modern welfare societies? Is new management an adequate response to operational problems within welfare state agencies? What are the challenges of recruiting immigrants to welfare agencies? How does chronic illness affect quality of life?How are disabled people identified and defined, in our society and in a historical perspective, and how does the understanding of disability affect welfare measures for this group? How prevalent is suicide among lesbians, and how can this phenomenon be understood?
