Guest editorial

Purpose: This paper aims to present an introduction to the special issue titled “Old and New Challenges for Welfare Regimes: A Global Perspective.” Design/methodology/approach: The authors of the special issue combine case studies and comparative analysis across America, Asia, Africa and Europe. The authors were invited to develop the authors'ir studies with a focus on one or more of three axes: (1) institutional and governance challenges surrounding the implementation and expansion of social welfare programs,; (2) state of the art and diversity across emerging welfare states and; (3) challenges associated with migration and demographic pressures. Findings: Articles in this special issue contribute to the authors' understanding of recent challenges and transformations of welfare regimes, with special attention to the following policy areas: youth emancipation, the reduction of poverty and income inequality, social protection and taxation, the role of historical institutionalism to better understand social policy implementation and expansion, the lack of transformative social protection in “’New Right’” governments, determinants of social equality and the transformative effect of migration into welfare states. Originality: To the authors' knowledge, the existing publications on transformations and challenges of welfare regimes are still very much centered on a Western European context. The global perspective and diversity of policy areas covered aims to shed light on the important lessons and policy implications from less traditional welfare states.