Organized in two parts, this book explores methods for incorporating concern for human needs into economic policies in eastern and central European countries that are making the transition to a market economy. Part I of the book considers economic reform, social policy, and child welfare in central and eastern Europe as a whole. Topics include: (1) child welfare, and social policy trends and alternatives, before and after the economic reform; (2) the efficiency, cost, and underlying philosophy of the models of social policy in the United States, Germany, and Sweden; and (3) the components and implementation of economic reforms and the consequences of these reforms for child and human welfare. Part II of the book profiles four case studies of efforts to reform social policies for children in central and eastern Europe. These studies include analyses of reforms in Hungary and Poland that have been underway for some time, and reforms in Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia that were introduced in 1991. A reference list of more than 200 items, an author index, and a subject index are provided. (BC)