A New Social Question?

Examines changes in the social security provision in a range of European countries, with special emphasis on the Bismarckian welfare states such as the Netherlands and Belgium.

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Advanced welfare states are said to be facing, in the words of Pierre Rosanvallon, a "New Social Question". The idea here, and it is a widely shared one, is that the transition from an industrial to a postindustrial environment has brought with it a whole new set of social risks, constraints and trade-offs which necessitate radical recalibration of social security systems. This book analyses in some depth how economic change has impacted on minimum income protection in advanced welfare states. There is a particular focus on how Bismarckian welfare states have fared over recent decades.