The aim of this special issue is to examine the relationships between support for older people and various socio-demographic, cultural and policy factors in selected European countries and the United States, using the international comparative perspective developed by the members of the Family Support for Older People: Determinants and Consequences (FAMSUP) network. Four of the included papers were delivered by network members at a symposium on ‘Family Support for Older People: International Comparisons’ that was held at the International Sociological Association (ISA) Inter-Congress Conference on Ageing Societies and Ageing Sociology: Diversity and Change in a Global World at the University of Surrey, Roehampton, in the suburbs of London (7–9 September 2004). Another paper, by Jim Ogg, a FAMSUP member, and Sylvie Renaut, investigates family networks among older people using data from the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).