Within advanced industrialized societies, the term “orphanage” is generally associated with a bygone era. However, in China state-run welfare institutes have served as the preferred method of caring for parentless children since the beginning of the People's Republic. In the mid-1990s global attention was first directed towards these institutions following the release of a controversial British documentary entitled “The Dying Rooms: China's Deepest Secret.” Pieced together from undercover footage, the film revealed never-before-seen images of severe neglect of babies and young children. Although since that time a number of improvements have been made within the realm of institutional care, Western media accounts continue to present a uniformly negative image of life in Chinese orphanages. Caring for Orphaned Children in China, by social policy scholars Xiaoyuan Shang and Karen Fisher, attempts to bridge the gap between fiction and reality by providing an up-to-date, informed analysis of the care provided to orphans and abandoned children in the PRC.

The authors convincingly demonstrate that state welfare provision for vulnerable children has not kept up with broader socio-economic changes that have transformed the nation since 1978. The state has maintained two separate strands of child welfare that mirror other forms of geographic inequality in Chinese society: in urban areas orphans are cared for within state-run institutions while those in rural regions are cared for (ostensibly at least) through informal kin networks. Both of these systems, the authors charge, provide inadequate support for children in need. The main argument of the book is that a mixed welfare regime, one in which “the government takes responsibility to guarantee orphans’ rights as children, and support family networks to provide care so that children are able to grow up within their own communities” (p. 3) is the best possible course of action.

Besides a short introduction, the book is comprised of 15 chapters that are structured into three main sections. Part one highlights relevant background information about alternative care (support arrangements for children not living with their parents) and the role played by the Chinese welfare state. It also elaborates on the research methods that underlie the subsequent case studies – mostly surveys, interviews and document analysis. Part two is the most extensive portion of the book, organized into nine separate research projects conducted between 2001 and 2009 that grapple with specific aspects of institutional and informal care arrangements. Primarily taken from previously published material, these case studies provide empirical detail about a vast range of subjects, including the profile of orphans in China and the types of care that are provided within urban state child welfare institutes and rural communities. The final few case studies focus on new forms of alternative care, such as foster mother villages, non-government affiliated welfare institutions, and rural initiatives to support HIV-affected families and children. Part three consists solely of the concluding chapter, which discusses implications and summarizes recent policy change.

This book is the first of its kind and should be applauded for drawing attention to the plight of one of China's most vulnerable, and often invisible, populations. Its strengths lie in its answers to key empirical questions. The authors administered China's very first national census on this topic to examine the total number of orphans and abandoned children, they analyse the adequacy of alternative care arrangements, and explore official policies supporting these children and how they have changed over time. There are also numerous pragmatic suggestions for policy and child welfare practice that, if implemented, would substantially improve care and social awareness of the problems faced by this marginalized group. Altogether, the book gives an elaborate and well-researched overview of topics that have never been examined together.

Nonetheless, this book suffers from a few basic shortcomings. First, because the research for many of the case studies was conducted between 2001 and 2005, it is unclear whether the data remains current or if it has lost explanatory value as the country has continued to modernize its child welfare system. Moreover, the authors should exercise more caution in overstating the generalizability of these case studies to larger domains of care. Secondly, there is a lack of critical engagement with relevant theoretical debates that attempt to explain why, in a time of unprecedented affluence, certain children have been marginalized to the point of being cast out of their families. The linkages between child abandonment, state care/policy, and China's quest for modernization in a global era go largely unexplored, in part because the overarching argument of the book is a policy suggestion rather than one based in theory. Lastly, readability is a factor. Rather than reaching out to a broad audience, the dense writing style, heavy focus on empirical details, and a certain amount of repetitiveness within the lengthy case studies may limit the readership to those whose interests lie more specifically in social policy.

Despite these shortcomings, Caring for Orphaned Children in China makes a considerable, worthwhile contribution to the analysis of these issues. It demonstrates the significant improvements that have been made in the field of orphan care since the “dying rooms” controversy and also points out areas where practical interventions could be made to improve the lives and protect the rights of children. In many ways this is a path-breaking study that provides highly needed insights into the work that is being done in China to care for a marginalized population that is often speculated about, but rarely studied.