Social Security in the Global Village (PDF)

There is growing recognition that globalization places major pressures on the development of social security schemes. Internationalization of the economy has important consequences for labor markets: employment is becoming less secure and inequality and social exclusion more pronounced in many countries. At the same time, there are some fundamental socio-demographic changes: new family structures, an aging population, and migration. Increased uncertainty and exclusion intensify the need for social security. Both the public and private sectors are redefining their roles, reshuffling responsibilities between states, markets, families, and individuals. Social Security in the Global Village investigates the new challenges for social security in an increasingly globalized world and analyzes strategies of adjustment. A group of internationally renowned experts in this field assess the variety of effects that globalization has had on national social security schemes. A common theme of a first set of chapters is the relationship between common pressures of globalization and the role of national institutional frameworks in shaping the impact of these pressures on social security. Countries are dealing in different ways with these challenges and follow diverse pathways of adjustment that quite often contradict widespread assumptions about the effects of globalization. A second set of chapters is devoted to challenges in selected policy areas: migration, labor markets, and social cohesion issues. Among the topical issues discussed are the social rights of migrants, the changing rights and obligations in unemployment insurance, lessons to be drawn for the promotion of employment, the relationship between family policy and employment policy for mothers, the management of social risks, and the protection of an adequate income in an active welfare state. Research can help to enlighten and inform the policy debate about the legitimacy of social security in the new, glob