Abstract

In post-industrial economies social risks have changed. If the main risks in the industrial period were linked to the loss of a secure job and to the period of inactivity (retirement), social risks are currently related to the difficulty of stabilizing work careers and income, and to the impediments concerning the reconciliation of work with caring activities. Nonetheless, the difficulties in the stabilization of work careers produces long-term effects both in terms of income protection during the repeated phases of unemployment, and in relation to economic security at the time of retirement. Fragmented careers impose investments in training and in human capital as well. Nowadays, new and old risks overlap just when job insecurity, income instability, increasing fragility of family support are intertwined, requiring welfare systems both traditional and innovative protection capabilities. Thus, rapid obsolescence of skills; career instability in the entry phases; income protection due to job loss; promotion of activation; difficulties in reconciling work and family life, are proposing new challenges to labor market policies.