Provided is an ink jet recording medium comprised of an ink jet receptive layer on a substrate. The ink receptive layer is comprised of a water soluble polymer and a radiation cured, water insoluble monomer and/or prepolymer. When both the water soluble polymer and the water insoluble monomer and/or prepolymer are cured, a coating is created which has a cage structure with the radiation cured, water insoluble monomer and/or prepolymer existing as a micelle within a water soluble polymer matrix. The resulting ink jet medium exhibits excellent water resistance and extremely high gloss.