Individualisation of social citizenship? Developments and contradictions in Europe

In the last two decades, European welfare states have undergone substantive reforms, with self-responsibility being the leitmotif. As the prevalent view goes, this means that social security entitlements have been individualised, resulting in tightened eligibility criteria and increased pressure on individuals to be available on the labour market. Against this background, the paper investigates to what extent the established connections between social rights and family membership in many European welfare states have changed since the 1990s towards an individualised form of social citizenship. To this end, the paper analyses in a European comparative perspective the development of pension schemes and unemployment security during the last decades. The findings show that the relation between social rights and family membership is rather variable and dynamic, and that there is no general trend towards an individualisation of social citizenship - on the contrary, family elements have rather been strengthened.