Featuring a chapter by Professor Peter Townsend and bringing together leading experts in their fields, this book provides a systematic critique of the early 21st-century government's policies to tackle inequalities. It shows an account of the level of inequalities inherited by the Labour government, and looks at the policy options with which it is faced. The text examines area-based policies to tackle inequalities in crime, health, education, housing and social exclusion, and is aimed at academics, policy makers, and students with an interest in inequality, poverty and social exclusion.