Welfare states have to be reformed. They cost too much in an increasingly competitive and globalised world where there are more and more old people who need pensions and health care. Current reforms put the responsibility on individuals to provide for themselves, grasp opportunities and succeed in competitive markets. They are reasonably successful in delivering more efficient and responsive services to most people. However they leave out poor and vulnerable groups and undermine public trust in welfare services, increasingly run on market lines. Social provision is being restructured.The welfare states reforms risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater and undermining the public support that is needed to ensure social provision in the future.