Welfare Regimes and the Experience of Unemployment in Europe

Over the last twenty years most countries have experienced periods of high unemployment. While this always leads to increased poverty and personal distress the severity of the effects has varied substantially from country to country. This book looks closely at some of the key factors behind these differences. It provides for the first time clear evidence about the way in which the nature of the welfare arrangements in a country together with its family and friendship patterns can affect the risk that unemployment leads to social exclusion.