Synopses & Reviews
One measure of public program response to rapidly expanding older populations is the approach to old-age pensions under social insurance, social assistance, and provident fund systems. Social insurance is clearly the preferred method of meeting the income needs of the elderly, but historical, as well as current social and economic conditions are forcing many nations to reevaluate the characteristics of viable and sustainable social insurance programs. This has led to a variety of innovations in old-age pension programs development, including revised benefit formulas, raised retirement ages, increased income testing, and expanded reliance on private occupational supplemental programs.
The essays in this new international handbook analyze the impact of the economic, social, and cultural effects of aging populations on government social insurance policies. They offer a perspective on how twenty different countries have approached income maintenance programs for the elderly. Collectively, the contributors demonstrate how governments, non-governmental entities, communities, and families respond to changes in traditional income and social service support systems. They provide not only descriptions of existing programs, but also a better understanding of the factors that gave rise to their distinct characteristics. This important new collection will be required reading for everyone involved in elderly services.
Review
Different countries face some common problems because of the aging of the population and the tendency of many workers to leave the labor force at earlier ages. This collection reveals how 20 countries at various stages of development have addressed the problem of old age insurance. Discussions are quite brief (approximately 12 pages) and are written by different authorities for each country. The general format for the chapters is a brief history, program characteristics and special features, methods of funding, and principal areas of concern. This is not a work on the economics of demographic change as is James H. Schulz, et al., Economics of Population Aging (1991); nor is it a detailed discussion of the income support system as is Social Security's Looming Surpluses, ed. by Carolyn L. Weaver (CH, Sep'91). What it does very well is compare programs between highly developed countries like the US and those of countries as diverse as Tanzania and Ghana. This book would be of interest to readers from any discipline concerned with social programs to assist the elderly.Choice
Synopsis
The essays in this new international handbook analyze the impact of the economic, social, and cultural effects of aging populations on government social insurance policies. They offer a perspective on how twenty different countries have approached income maintenance programs for the elderly.
Synopsis
The essays in this new international handbook analyze the impact of the economic, social, and cultural effects of aging populations on government social insurance policies. They offer a perspective on how twenty different countries have approached income maintenance programs for the elderly.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [229]-235) and index.
About the Author
MARTIN B. TRACY is Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa.FRED PAMPEL is Professor of Sociology and Senior Research Associate at the Population Program at the University of Colorado.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Australia by Allan Borowski
Canada by Brigitte Kitchen
Chile by Joseph L. Scarpaci and Ernesto Maranda-Radic
China by Lillian Liu
Costa Rica by Guido Miranda-Gutierrez
France Jean-Louis Cayatte
Federal Republic of Germany by Heinz-Dietrich Steinmeyer
German Democratic Republic by Paul Adams
Ghana by Florence Amattey
India by Fred Groskind and John B. Williamson
Indonesia by Sentanoe Kertonegoro
Israel by Leah Achdut and Jack Habib
Ivory Coast by Prosper Koffi Kouassi
Mexico by Emilio Rabasa-Gamboa
Sweden by Richard M. Coughlin and Richard F. Tomasson
Switzerland by Peter Kunz
Tanzania by Ayubu K. T. Nyanga and C. K. Omari
Turkey by Marsel A. Heisel
United Kingdom by Dorothy Wilson
United States by Robert J. Myers
Index