Over recent years, the inability of social security protection to reach workers without a formal employment contract has become an inconvenient reality in both the global north and south. This book explores how provisions for income security can be revised to effectively meet the needs of the labour force in varying economies. In developing economies, informal employment has traditionally accounted for a high proportion of overall employment and this trend looks set to continue. In the global north, the increasing use of flex-contracts and 'dependent self-employment' has led to a rise in the number of workers with limited income protection. An additional challenge for countries in both hemispheres is the rise of the 'gig' economy. This book is the first to open up a dialogue about social security coverage in the developed and developing world. Authors from both sides of the divide have contributed chapters and present a variety of insights, experiments and practices with the aim of identifying better ways to combat the growing social security challenge. Academic researchers with an interest in labour law and social policy will find this book to be an engaging source of innovative research. Practicing lawyers and policy makers will also benefit from the insights and examples provided from a number of different jurisdictions. ntributors include: C. Barnard, A. Blackham, E. Fourie, A. Govindjee, T. Gyulavari, D. Hofmeyr, L. Jianfei, A. Johansson Westregard, L. Lamarche, J. Li, J. Masabo, M. Olivier, P.A. Ortiz, A. Paz-Fuchs, M. Westerveld, M. Wynn

'For the modern welfare state support' for those who are out of work through no fault of their own remains a foundation stone. Now, however, under pressure form market-driven ideology focused on business performance, its composition and the way support is delivered is in a state of flux. With the avowed objective of minimizing dependence on social benefits and increasing labour market efficiency, many national policies with varying degrees of thoroughness are shifting from a bureaucratic approach to some form of contract arrangement that demands a higher level of personal responsibility from the unemployed worker. The contractualisation process is usually administered through a 'reintegration service' that may be partly or wholly privatised. This remarkable book is the first comparative in-depth study of the process of contractualisation. It offers seventeen penetrating analyses, by leading labour market and labour law authorities, of recent policy initiatives to activate employment by contract and the implications of these initiatives from both legal and a socioeconomic perspective. Among the issue explored are the following: motivation, mobility, and flexibility in the labour market; effect of contractualisation on public accountability and responsibility; effect on the individual's statutory relationship under social security; whether and to what extent the conditions on which one country successfully introduces contractualisation apply to other countries; and, the unemployed individual as 'contract partner': What conditions can he or she set? The analyses focus on experience with contracts as service deliverance in the labour markets of eight countries: Australia, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, and Finland. Because a certain measure of experience has already been built up by governments, providers, and clients, now is the time to try and learn form good as well as bad practices in order to build coherent institutional frameworks to help the unemployed. This book is sure to bring insight and effectiveness to the work of professionals, officials, and politicians in this policy field, and will be of special practical value to labour law practitioners, academic researchers and libraries, trade unions, policymakers, and corporate counsel.