The Last Safety Net: A Handbook of Minimum Income Protection in Europe

Minimum income protection provides the last social safety net for people in need. The book provides a systematic comparative and longitudinal analysis of minimum income protection systems in 17 EU-countries based on a newly developed dataset. Country-specific chapters providing institutional overviews are combined with comparative quantitative indicators on issues such as benefit levels, expenditures and beneficiaries. The book will be of major interest to researchers, scholars and experts in income protection, poverty and the welfare state.

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Reviews:

Navigating through the complex institutional puzzles which make up the last safety nets in the European countries, the authors offer detailed empirical information on the actual working of welfare states and on different conceptions of deservedness and social citizenship.—Chiara Saraceno, Research Professor, Institute for Social Research, Berlin

Introduction Defining and measuring minimum income protection Welfare state contexts Country analyses Comparative analyses Conclusion