The Politics of the New Welfare State

Since the early 1990s, European welfare states have undergone substantial changes. Traditional programmes, such as old age pensions have been curtailed. Cost-containment measures have been adopted also in other parts of the welfare state, ranging from health care services to invalidity benefits. At the same time, today's welfare states have taken up some new functions. They are expected to help and/or push non-working people back into employment, to complement work income for the working poor, to help parents reconcile work and family life, to promote gender equality, to support child developm ... More