ABSTRACT
The working class is generally held to have a special interest in the maintenance and expansion of the welfare state, because the latter entails a decommodification of labor and hence a weakening of the link between work and income. This chapter explains the paradox that although the working class is more economically egalitarian, it nevertheless does not favor weakening the link between work and income more than society's other classes and hence does not more strongly emphasize the rights of the unemployed at the cost of their obligations either. The precarious balance of rights and obligations that results from this dual aim is most visible in case of the unemployed and is expressed in the legal notion of "suitable employment", which captures the balance between the right of the unemployed to a social security benefit and their obligation to work.
