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Economic insecurity is generally conceived as a feeling of concern about the material conditions that may prevail in the future in case of adverse events, like job loss or sickness. The welfare state turns a set of individual risks (including sickness, job loss and others mining economic security) into social risks by way of social protection. As a consequence, lower economic insecurity is expected  where the welfare state is stronger. This paper explores this connection empirically, using official statistics as well as economic insecurity measures proposed in the literature. The analysis is run on a selection of European countries, whose social protection systems differ considerably in terms of social spending levels, kinds of risks covered and rules for accessing social protection.