To ask about a country's family policy is to ask how state action, government policies, are actually affecting families and the quality of family life – not just poor families, but all families in that country. French family policy is considered under three headings: (1) the political significance of the family in France, (2) the social security services designed to increase the economic viability of the family and to promote family welfare, and (3) the adjustment of French family policy to the changing economic situation and aspirations of ordinary families. Comparisons are drawn with British policies under each heading and the conclusion drawn that compared with Britain France has a more conscious, clearly defined concept of family policy, which finds expression firstly in statutory and voluntary institutions whose primary or even sole purpose is to promote the welfare of the family, and secondly, in a whole range of statutory benefits to which the parents of the nuclear family are entitled as of right.

This article describes current policies and practices in relation to English Gypsies and a study of Gypsies by participant observation. While governments in the past have always sought to prevent the Gypsies from travelling, local authorities have been equally concerned to prevent camping or settlement in their district. Despite the Caravan Sites Act 1968, which makes the provision of caravan sites mandatory, many authorities are reluctant to fulfil their obligations. By June 1974, pitches for little more than a quarter of Gypsy families had been provided. Harassment of travelling families who have no legal place to which to go persists.

The evidence suggests that the Gypsies are a cohesive ethnic group with membership based primarily on descent. They are not drop-outs from house-dwelling society and they maintain their separation by intent. They have a viable economy based mainly on scrap breaking and it seems likely that travelling, which facilitates their work, will persist. Though some Gypsies wish to settle, many do not.

Several short-term policy changes are proposed, requiring a more flexible and varied approach to accommodation for Gypsies. The hope is that Britain might ultimately become the first country to permit Gypsies their own separate way of life, travelling or settled by choice.

The objective of this paper is to take the published Mental Health Service objectives of the British Government and to assess the extent to which these objectives had been attained by 1970. Our measures are those of input and the criteria by which we judge the services are those which were set forth in the White papers, the Hospital Plan for England and Wales (1962), and Health and Welfare (1963). By and large we find that the objectives were not met. Simple linear extrapolation of some of the trends in the data make us pessimistic about their attainment prior to 1980. These lessons should condition any optimism about the inevitability of more recent objectives (Department of Health and Social Security [1971] - the Keith Joseph proposals) being attained in the prescribed time period.