This paper - which was given as the «Lecture 2003» of the Associazione Manlio Rossi Doria - investigates, first of all, the crisis of the «fordist system of welfare» and of its three main social institutions: the nuclear family; the big industrial firm; and the «Social Security Welfare State». These institutions granted economic security to workers and retired people, but they restrained their chances of self-fulfilment in the professional field. Today radical changes are occurring in the labour market and the family. The «map» of social risks also has undergone wide changes. Economic insecurity and job precariousness are growing, but - at the same time - new chances are opened for social and professional mobility. The second part of the paper analyses recent social and employment policies, adopted in some European countries, which allow to outline the contours of a new welfare system, more suitable to reconcile social security and self-fulfilment of the individual.only subscribers can see the full article