New risks, new welfare: the transformation of the European welfare state

Based on data from a major study and long-standing collaboration between a number of prominent European scholars, this book offers a fresh perspective on the future of the welfare state across the EU. Through detailed case-study analysis, it analyses the emergence of new social risks alongside traditional needs

Based on data from a major study and long-standing collaboration between a number of prominent European scholars, this book offers a fresh perspective on the future of the welfare state across the EU. Through detailed case-study analysis, it analyses the emergence of new social risks alongside traditional needs.

This book introduces the concept of new social risks in welfare state studies and explains their relevance to the comparative understanding of social policy in Europe. New social risks arise from shifts in the balance of work and family life as a direct result of the declining importance of the male breadwinner family, changes in the labour market, and the impact of globalization on national policy-making. They differ from the old social risks of the standard industriallife-course, which were concerned primarily with interruptions to income from sickness, unemployment, retirement, and similar