ABSTRACT
The idea of combining entrepreneurial spirit with social goals has received a warm welcome of late, particularly among politicians who see social innovation as a means of addressing the problems of overburdened welfare states—including, most notably, increased demands for social services and shrinking funding opportunities. This chapter explains how social enterprises (SE) serve as drivers of social innovation in conservative welfare states with well-established organizational fields. New social risks and demands related to rising rates of inequality, unemployment, and child poverty are opening up new opportunities for SEs to occupy specific "niches," where they can focus on emerging or neglected social problems and target groups. The chapter argues that several factors explain why youth welfare has become a fruitful area of interest for SEs. It analyzes the common features that make these SEs simultaneously drivers of social innovation in the field of youth welfare as well as textbook examples for the new species of SEs.
