This book offers an account of the performance of the welfare state in the European Union, and explores its future prospects in an ever evolving setting. The objectives of the welfare state are twofold, to relieve poverty and to provide a sense of security for everyone.

This seminar proceedings examines whether the current designs of social protection systems in OECD societies are well-suited to contemporary life-course realities. It looks in detail at recent policy developments in OECD countries to develop more flexible time-based social policies, as well as...

Fertility has long been declining in industrialised countries and the existence of public pension systems is considered as one of the causes. This paper is the first to provide detailed evidence based on historical data on the mechanism by which a public pension system depresses fertility. Our...