ABSTRACT
This chapter describes and reviews the current policy landscape impacting on children and families living in Scotland, whilst reflecting on the aspirations of the government to make Scotland the country the best place for children to grow up in. This vision is set within and against the broader historical and contemporary context, one that reflects and represents significant challenges, including nationwide health inequalities and intergenerational deprivation. As such, the aim here is to represent how policy has emerged, evolved and impacted on this particular grouping, emphasising that the development of policy has both direct and indirect effects, and that not all policy ends up working in the ways people hoped it would.
