The Employee Welfare State in Transition

Throughout the postwar period, large-firm employers have provided a majority of full-time workers with a fairly comprehensive set of welfare or social insurance entitlements. Today, however, a deep sense of insecurity currently plagues all the participants in the employee welfare system. Workers who had expected the system to provide security against the ordinary range of social risks now face the prospect of inadequate coverage, and employers who continue to provide a full range of benefits face mounting costs. Research explores the growth of the employee welfare state, its current state of crisis and prospects for reform and renewal.