Abstract

The article introduces and discusses the notions of financialization of welfare and wellbeing. Drawing on international sociological literature including theoretical and empirical works, it focuses on the impact of these processes on the structure of inequality. Individuals and households, as well as public policy, are increasingly pushed to directly interact with financial markets and negotiate through them their opportunities for accessing and producing goods and services aimed at satisfying basic human needs. The article offers an overview of the main problems and contradictions of the process, stressing the importance of taking into account both its cultural and material dimensions.