Age in the Welfare State

Age in the Welfare State

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.


Old Age and the Welfare State

Old Age and the Welfare State

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"


The Transformation of Old Age Security

The Transformation of Old Age Security

Author: Jill Quadagno

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1988-02-18

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 9780226699233

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Why did the United States lag behind Germany, Britain, and Sweden in adopting a national plan for the elderly? When the Social Security Act was finally enacted in 1935, why did it depend on a class-based double standard? Why is old age welfare in the United States still less comprehensive than its European counterparts? In this sophisticated analytical chronicle of one hundred years of American welfare history, Jill Quadagno explores the curious birth of old age assistance in the United States. Grounded in historical research and informed by social science theory, the study reveals how public assistance grew from colonial-era poor laws, locally financed and administered, into a massive federal bureaucracy.


Aging and the Welfare-state Crisis

Aging and the Welfare-state Crisis

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.


Age in the Welfare State

Age in the Welfare State

Author: Janice and Julian Bers Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences Julia Lynch

Publisher:

Published: 2014-05-14

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 9780511221149

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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.


Eldercare, Distributive Justice, and the Welfare State

Eldercare, Distributive Justice, and the Welfare State

Author: Derek Gill

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1994-01-01

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 9780791417652

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The essays in this book describe the situation of the elderly today, taking into account the major political, economic, and social variations of service provided in a variety of countries. Although the welfare state exists in all developed and developing countries, its content and administration varies substantially. The editors first develop a framework of concepts and perspectives that establish links between eldercare, distributive justice, and the welfare state. This is followed by analyses of the services provided to the elderly in selected countries. Finally, the editors show how and in what ways the concepts developed earlier in the introduction--equity, uniformity, public accountability, individualism, collectivism, institutional or residual welfare state orientation, "high" or "low" wage economy--apply to and explain the differences in care of the elderly.


The Welfare State

The Welfare State

Author: David Garland

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 0199672660

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This Very Short Introduction discusses the necessity of welfare states in modern capitalist societies. Situating social policy in an historical, sociological, and comparative perspective, David Garland brings a new understanding to familiar debates, policies, and institutions.


Dismantling the Welfare State?

Dismantling the Welfare State?

Author: Paul Pierson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1995-09-29

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1316583538

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This book offers a careful examination of the politics of social policy in an era of austerity and conservative governance. Focusing on the administrations of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, Pierson provides a compelling explanation for the welfare state's durability and for the few occasions where each government was able to achieve significant cutbacks. The programmes of the modern welfare state - the 'policy legacies' of previous governments - generally proved resistant to reform. Hemmed in by the political supports that have developed around mature social programmes, conservative opponents of the welfare state were successful only when they were able to divide the supporters of social programmes, compensate those negatively affected, or hide what they were doing from potential critics. The book will appeal to those interested in the politics of neo-conservatism as well as those concerned about the development of the modern welfare state. It will attract readers in the fields of comparative politics, public policy, and political economy.


Growing Old with the Welfare State

Growing Old with the Welfare State

Author: Nick Hubble

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-05-16

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1350033111

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The combined effect of the welfare state and medical advances means that more people now live longer lives than ever before in history. As a consequence, the experience of ageing has been transformed. Yet our cultural and social perceptions of ageing remain governed by increasingly dated images and narratives. Growing Old with the Welfare State challenges these stereotypes by bringing together eight previously unpublished stories of ordinary British people born between 1925 and 1945 to show contemporary ageing in a new light. These biographical narratives, six of which were written as part of the Mass Observation Project, reflect on and compare the experience of living in two post-war periods of social change, after the first and second world wars. In doing so, these stories, along with their accompanying contextual chapters, provide a valuable and accessible resource for social historians, and expose both historical and contemporary views of age and ageing that challenge modern assumptions.