ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book outlines a number of social policy innovations to adjust the family-work place relationship more in favor of families. It shows the models for integrating formal and informal support systems are being developed and are already in place in some communities. The quality of neighborhoods as contexts for family life has become a significant issue for students of community and human development. Some of the best thoughts on the sustainable society in which quality predominates over quantitative concerns come from the utopian novelists. Austin Tappan Wright's Islandia presents such a totally sustainable society, one in which the pursuit of human quality is totally preeminent over concerns materialist quantity. The design and delivery of human services, the nature of adult work, and the structure and function of educational institutions all have a significant effect on the quality of life for children.
