Discussion: The Take on New Social Risks in the Nordic Welfare States

Amidst the deep and interrelated global crises in finance and employment, the Nordic countries might look like heaven on earth. They could be regarded as such not only by individuals who are particularly vulnerable to the risks sparked by such crises but also by those belonging to the middle class. As recently asserted, one would opt for a Nordic country ‘[i]f you had to be reborn anywhere in the world as a person with average talents and income’ (The Economist 2013). In Europe alone, the Nordic type comprehensive welfare state has apparently fared the best in coping with the international recession while securing its population against social risks (see European Commission 2013). Certainly, recent years have seen policy-makers across Europe embracing policies originating from the Nordic countries such as ‘flexicurity’ (Schmid & Schömann 1999), activation (Knijn 2012: 28), gender polices (Haas & Rostgaard 2011: 192), child investment through public provision of child care (Lister 2009) and so on.1