ABSTRACT
Since the mid-1980s, arrangements for social provision in the United States have undergone a radical restructuring due to philosophical, market-related, and demographic pressures, which are affecting the nature of social protec tion in many modern welfare states. An emphasis on personal responsibility has come to overshadow the standard of entitlement; privatization of social protection is increasing; the robust economy and low unemployment rate encourage the view from the right and left that individuals should be selfsufficient; and immense fiscal pressures posed by projected demographic change necessitate re-examination of the structure of social security. These patterns mark a significant break from the welfare state of the past sixty years.
