New Social Risks and its Consequences

Industrial welfare states were built with one key objective: to protect people from the consequences of losing their ability to achieve an income from the labour market; now deindustrialisation and the tertiarization of employment, the massive entry of women into the labour force, increased instability of family structures and the de-standardisation of employment. These trends have altered structures of social risk in western societies. Structures of social risk, however, have changed then, so that current social risks also include, precarious employment, long term unemployment, being a working poor, single parenthood, or inability to reconcile work and family life. The aim of this paper is to describe and presentation the concept of the 'new social risks' and its consequences for the social cohesion and financial stability of the post-industrial society.