ABSTRACT
Social protection is often regarded as a burden that supposedly weighs heavily on the economy and is an obstacle to employment. The main problems raised by the financing of social protection are of two kinds: financial needs and modalities of financing. The combination of neo-liberal thinking and globalization hence poses a heavy threat for social protection, since it calls into question its very legitimacy. Globalization will be seen to make social protection both more difficult to finance and more necessary than ever. The reduction in the resources available to finance social protection is the outcome of both the pressures of fiscal and social competition and the demands of competitivity and profitability faced by enterprises. Social protection must hence resist such threats, not only because it is unfairly accused, but also because it is increasingly necessary to repair the social costs of economic globalization and to help its victims.
