Reconciling competing claims of the welfare state clientele: The politics of old and new social risk coverage in comparative perspective

Social risks such as poverty due to retirement from working life, unemployment or illness are covered by schemes of the traditional welfare state such as pensions, unemployment and health insurances. New social risks emerge due to the transformation of labor markets and of family structures during the past three decades or so. Among these risks are those of reconciling work and family, or of low education in a knowledge-based post-industrial economy (Bonoli 2005).