Aging and the Welfare-state Crisis

Aging and the Welfare-state Crisis PDF

Author: Anne Marie Guillemard

Publisher: University of Delaware Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9780874135947

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"This book brings an innovative conceptual framework of analysis that can be transferred to other areas of social politics or public policies at large."--BOOK JACKET.

Old Age and the Welfare State

Old Age and the Welfare State PDF

Author: Anne Marie Guillemard

Publisher: London ; Beverly Hills, Calif. : Sage Publications

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 9780803997592

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The modern welfare state is above all a welfare state for the elderly. An overwhelming proportion of its services and benefits go to them. The current crisis of the welfare state is also, therefore, a crisis of policy concerned with the aged. The essays in this volume examine not only interventions by governments on behalf of the old, but the very basis and history of the welfare state itself. From a variety of perspectives ranging from structural functionalism to neomarxism, they examine old age policy in six advanced industrial nations -- the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, West Germany, and France. The essays in Part One deal with the process of making public policy on old age and changes in it during the current economic crisis. Contributions in the second part examine the impact of existing policies on older people. The focus of the essays on social, economic, and political aspects amounts to a new approach in gerontology that has been called by some the political economy of ageing. This book is unique in providing research on the relationship between old age policy and the larger class structure, economy, and state apparatus of more than one country. It will become a classic in the field, and an example of how sociology can be relevant to deal with our current social and economic crisis.' -- "Manuel Castells, University of California at Berkeley"

Age in the Welfare State

Age in the Welfare State PDF

Author: Julia Lynch

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-06-05

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1139454951

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This book asks why some countries devote the lion's share of their social policy resources to the elderly, while others have a more balanced repertoire of social spending. Far from being the outcome of demands for welfare spending by powerful age-based groups in society, the 'age' of welfare is an unintended consequence of the way that social programs are set up. The way that politicians use welfare state spending to compete for votes, along either programmatic or particularistic lines, locks these early institutional choices into place. So while society is changing - aging, divorcing, moving in and out of the labor force over the life course in new ways - social policies do not evolve to catch up. The result, in occupational welfare states like Italy, the United States, and Japan, is social spending that favors the elderly and leaves working-aged adults and children largely to fend for themselves.

The Future of the Welfare State

The Future of the Welfare State PDF

Author: Francis G. Castles

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2004-07-08

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 0191533629

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Written by one of the world's leading policy researchers, this book seeks to assess the threat posed to modern welfare states by globalization and demographic change. Using empirical methods, and bringing together insights from across the social sciences, Castles interrogates a range of theories suggesting that the welfare state is in crisis. Systematically using data for 21 advanced OECD nations, he distinguishes crisis myths from crisis realities, locating, in the process, likely trajectories of welfare state development in coming decades. The findings of this book confront many of the basic assumptions of contemporary scholarship. Economic globalization has not led to a 'race to the bottom'. Analogous processes within the European Community have not led to a 'downward harmonization' of social spending. There is no 'new politics of the welfare state', with the Left still outspending the Right. Over the past two decades, spending has been increasing and converging across the OECD. Rather than being in a state of crisis, western welfare states have achieved a steady state. The supposed impact of population ageing on social welfare budgets also turns out to be myth, with differences in spending actually being a function of the structure of welfare systems, not of any demographic imperative. The only potentially real threat is of rapidly declining fertility, but Castles argues that welfare state spending in the form of family-friendly public policy is, in fact, our best defence against this problem. This is a book with significant policy implications. It identifies the factors likely to mould welfare state growth and decline in future years, and the diverse problems and challenges confronting welfare state policy-makers in different families of nations. It is a book for those who like assessing evidence before jumping to unwarranted conclusions, and a book for those who wish to see 'the shape of things to come'.

Development and Crisis of the Welfare State

Development and Crisis of the Welfare State PDF

Author: Evelyne Huber

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010-04-15

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 0226356493

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Evelyne Huber and John D. Stephens offer the most systematic examination to date of the origins, character, effects, and prospects of generous welfare states in advanced industrial democracies in the post—World War II era. They demonstrate that prolonged government by different parties results in markedly different welfare states, with strong differences in levels of poverty and inequality. Combining quantitative studies with historical qualitative research, the authors look closely at nine countries that achieved high degrees of social protection through different types of welfare regimes: social democratic states, Christian democratic states, and "wage earner" states. In their analysis, the authors emphasize the distribution of influence between political parties and labor movements, and also focus on the underestimated importance of gender as a basis for mobilization. Building on their previous research, Huber and Stephens show how high wages and generous welfare states are still possible in an age of globalization and trade competition.

Ageing and the Crisis in Health and Social Care

Ageing and the Crisis in Health and Social Care PDF

Author: Bethany Simmonds

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2023-04

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 1447348710

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Current and future provision of health and social care for older people is explored in this timely study. It draws on examples from Germany, Sweden and the UK to measure the impact of trends including neoliberalisation and marketisation.

Social policy in challenging times

Social policy in challenging times PDF

Author: Farnsworth, Kevin

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2011-09-21

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1847428290

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There is no precedent to the current economic crisis which looks set to redefine social policy debate throughout the globe. But its effects are not uniform across nations. Bringing together a range of expert contributions, the key lesson to emerge from this book is that 'the crisis' is better understood as a variety of crises, each mediated by national context. Consequently, there is an array of potential trajectories for welfare systems, from those where social policy is regarded as incompatible with the post-crisis economy to those where it is considered essential to future economic growth and security.

Welfare State Legitimacy in Times of Crisis and Austerity

Welfare State Legitimacy in Times of Crisis and Austerity PDF

Author: Tijs Laenen

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2020-08-28

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1788976304

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Has there been change or continuity in the welfare attitudes of Europeans since the 2008 financial crisis? Using data from the European Social Survey, this book reveals how various types of welfare attitudes evolved between 2008, when the crisis triggered economic recessions and welfare reforms across Europe, and 2016, when most countries had largely recovered from that crisis.

Social Policy and Aging

Social Policy and Aging PDF

Author: Carroll L. Estes

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2001-03-30

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780803973473

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This groundbreaking book provides a comprehensive treatment of the political economy of aging. From the founder and key thinker in the field comes a work that aims to contribute to the understanding of old age and aging in the context of problems and issues of the larger social order in America. Since Carroll Estes' first writing on the political economy of aging in 1979, there has been growing recognition and incorporation of her critical perspective as one of the major paradigms in the field of aging. The only comprehensive book-length treatment of the subject, Social Policy and Aging addresses the globalization of capital and developments in health care restructuring. Combining social gerontological theory and major theoretical advances in work on the welfare state, this text keeps readers abreast of the new development within the discipline. Students and researchers alike will appreciate this critical perspective, widely acknowledged as one of the major paradigms in the field of aging. [Ed.]