Labour flexibility, risks and the welfare state

This study examines public attitudes to various social security programmes in the modern flexible economy. While numerical and functional flexibility have become more important in most European countries, these types of flexibility are assumed to affect job security, community feeling and, as a consequence, public attitudes to social security in contradictory ways. An analysis of recent Dutch survey data indicates that support for social security programmes, particularly unemployment spending, can be understood in terms of the increased levels of internal job insecurity experienced by 'atypical' workers. In contrast to some of the arguments that are outlined in this article, it appears that the emergence of a flexible labour market has not affected levels of community feeling.

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