Supporting, fostering and coercing? The legal regulation of the exercise of family responsibilities

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book highlights the limited reach of the law in the regulation of the caring responsibilities family members assume for one another. It describes the extent to which the law attempts to involve itself in the regulation of family responsibilities and its shortcomings and failings in doing so. The book explores questions about the relationship between caring and financial responsibilities. It explains the role of the husband/partner/father as financial provider or breadwinner in family contexts. The book provides perhaps the best illustration of the law's aspiration to limit its own intervention in the regulation of the actual care provided in fragmented families. It informs understanding of how in all these ways, in allocating formal care, in structuring frameworks for the provision of care, and in providing dispute resolution the law continues to participate in the fostering, supporting and coercing of responsible family behaviour.