SOCIAL SECURITY, SOCIAL INEQUALITY 221
ing the position of individuals vis-à-vis the job market, whereby activating
labor market policies are augmented by a willingness to assist in the ac-
cumulation of human capital. Under the banner of other policies, whose
goals are to level chances and increase education opportunities for chil-
dren from socially deprived families or those with migrant backgrounds,
older leitmotifs of social democratic politics have been revived, albeit
with a stronger focus on integrating the recipients of these policy bene-
fi ts into the labor force.
The welfare state has by no means lost its overwhelming signifi cance
in this interplay of diff erent arenas of inequality; rather, its importance
has tended to be reinforced. At present, alongside classic risk hedging
functions, programs that aim to improve employability are on the rise.
Within this deeply altered economic, sociostructural, and sociocultural
context, the protective welfare state has shifted considerably toward a
regulatory and activating welfare state.
Social Polarization in a Fragmented Competitive Society
Patterns of social inequality have changed more dramatically since 1990
than welfare state institutions. The development of social inequality since
this point has been marked by a signifi cant change in the balance of
power between capital and work to the detriment of employees. There
are, however, fi ve other trends that merit particular attention:
- The tight structure of standard, contract-based employment (Norma-
larbeitsverhältnisse) that was underpinned by the welfare state had been
facing increased pressure since the 1970s. Less as a result of reunifi ca-
tion and more as a result of the need to respond to global developments,
the world of work in post-reunifi cation Germany has been subjected to
processes of deregulation, fl exibilization, and deformalization related
to employment, as well as a polarization of professional qualifi cations,
which have reinforced inequality. Because of these developments, the
contours of a uniform work-oriented society have become less clear.^66 - In the context of this knowledge-based industrial society, education
is becoming a more signifi cant factor in social inequality. The ongoing
tertiarization of the economy in addition to the automation and digita-
lization of production have raised the bar in terms of employment qual-
ifi cations. The number of jobs for low-qualifi ed individuals without any
occupational training has decreased considerably again since 1990. In
addition, there is a plethora of poorly paid, precarious, “atypical” kinds
of employment in this segment (such as mini-jobs, pseudo self-employ-
ment, and part-time work); but, at the same time, the percentage of highly