"Leading scholars examine the highly topical issue of the future of the welfare state. They argue that welfare states need to adjust, and examine which kinds of welfare architecture will further Europe's stated goal of maximum social inclusion and justice. Why we need a New Welfare State concentrates on four principal social policy domains; the aged and transition to retirement; the welfare issues related to profound changed in working life; the new risks and needs that arise in households and, especially, in families with children; and the challenges of creating gender equality. The volume aims to promote a better understanding of the key welfare issues that will have to be faced in the coming decades. It also warns against the recourse to patent policy solutions which all too often characterizes contemporary debate, It intends to move the policy debate from its often frustratingly vague and generic level towards greater specificity and nuance."--BOOK JACKET.