ABSTRACT
Like most of its European counterparts, the French welfare state has undergone a phase of retrenchment and restructuring since the mid1970s. This has largely been in response to a financial crisis which has taken the form of rising budget deficits produced by an increasing demand for welfare and declining rates of economic growth. While current debates on French social policy focus on this financial crisis, a crisis common to most advanced industrial countries, they equally reflect the view that the French model of social protection has become inadequate in the context of current changes in the labour market, particularly with regard to both youth and long-term unemployment. This thesis, which is widely supported in France (e.g. Rosanvallon 1995), argues that the contributory social insurance principle on which the
French system is based has become outdated in the light of recent socio economic change.
