The 1990's will be remembered in Europe as the period in which `privatization' assumed significant proportions in the field of welfare policies. In an age of crisis for the welfare state and increased demand of care services, there is now a widespread opinion that future welfare systems will see more and more space occupied by private and nonprofit organizations taking the direct responsibility of providing services and meeting the needs of the clients. A "welfare mix" is emerging as a system in which government, private and nonprofit organizations operate in place of the state monopoly; nonprofit organizations, in particular, have obtained formal recognition as partners of public authorities and professional groups in policy making. An increasing interdependence between state, private and third sector organizations will characterize next years all post-industrial societies. Through research in the field of social care in six European Countries (France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain and the U.K.) the authors highlight the role of nonprofit and commercial organizations in the new "welfare mix systems" and main social and institutional effects of such new order. This volume in the Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies series is the first attempt to bridge the relevant gap existing between the literature on the welfare state and studies on the nonprofit sector.