Francis G. Castles
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199270170
- eISBN:
- 9780191601514
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199270171.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
This book uses data from 21 OECD countries for the period 1980 to 1998 to test a variety of hypotheses suggesting that contemporary welfare states are in crisis and to establish the factors shaping ...
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This book uses data from 21 OECD countries for the period 1980 to 1998 to test a variety of hypotheses suggesting that contemporary welfare states are in crisis and to establish the factors shaping the trajectory of welfare state development during these years. It assesses the validity of arguments that globalization leads to a ‘race to the bottom’ in social spending and that population ageing poses a threat to public budgets. It finds both of these arguments wanting and, instead, suggests that contemporary welfare states have been converging to a steady state over recent decades. The book also examines the extent to which welfare states across the OECD have been restructured in recent years and whether there are signs of the emergence of a distinctive European ‘social model’. Again, it finds that accounts of substantial welfare state restructuring and of the Europeanization of the welfare state are much exaggerated. Finally, the book identifies a potential threat to the viability of existing societies in a trend to declining fertility throughout the advanced world, but argues that the welfare state in the form of family-friendly policy is actually our best protection against this trend.Less
This book uses data from 21 OECD countries for the period 1980 to 1998 to test a variety of hypotheses suggesting that contemporary welfare states are in crisis and to establish the factors shaping the trajectory of welfare state development during these years. It assesses the validity of arguments that globalization leads to a ‘race to the bottom’ in social spending and that population ageing poses a threat to public budgets. It finds both of these arguments wanting and, instead, suggests that contemporary welfare states have been converging to a steady state over recent decades. The book also examines the extent to which welfare states across the OECD have been restructured in recent years and whether there are signs of the emergence of a distinctive European ‘social model’. Again, it finds that accounts of substantial welfare state restructuring and of the Europeanization of the welfare state are much exaggerated. Finally, the book identifies a potential threat to the viability of existing societies in a trend to declining fertility throughout the advanced world, but argues that the welfare state in the form of family-friendly policy is actually our best protection against this trend.
Gøsta Esping‐Andersen
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198742005
- eISBN:
- 9780191599163
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198742002.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Starts by discussing the perennial welfare state crisis, making the point that the contemporary crisis differs notably from its forebears. Rigidity is an endogenous symptom of the crisis, and the ...
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Starts by discussing the perennial welfare state crisis, making the point that the contemporary crisis differs notably from its forebears. Rigidity is an endogenous symptom of the crisis, and the various symptoms include demographic ageing, and the growing risks of poverty and social exclusion (which spring from the malfunctioning of the labour market and the family). The aim of the book is to come to terms with the new political economy—the post‐industrial economy—that is emerging. To do this it pursues a set of interlinked arguments: the so‐called welfare state crisis, in which debate has been too focused on the state, when it should be on the interaction between the component parts of contemporary welfare regimes such as labour markets, the family, and the welfare state itself; the fact that the real crisis of contemporary welfare regimes lies in the disjuncture between the existing institutional construction and exogenous change; and the fact that the emerging risks of post‐industrial society come primarily from the revolution that is unfolding in both labour markets and households. Four phenomena form the unifying theme of the book: equality, risks, jobs, and the new political economy. Risks and jobs are dealt with in separate chapters; the introduction discusses equality and the new political economy.Less
Starts by discussing the perennial welfare state crisis, making the point that the contemporary crisis differs notably from its forebears. Rigidity is an endogenous symptom of the crisis, and the various symptoms include demographic ageing, and the growing risks of poverty and social exclusion (which spring from the malfunctioning of the labour market and the family). The aim of the book is to come to terms with the new political economy—the post‐industrial economy—that is emerging. To do this it pursues a set of interlinked arguments: the so‐called welfare state crisis, in which debate has been too focused on the state, when it should be on the interaction between the component parts of contemporary welfare regimes such as labour markets, the family, and the welfare state itself; the fact that the real crisis of contemporary welfare regimes lies in the disjuncture between the existing institutional construction and exogenous change; and the fact that the emerging risks of post‐industrial society come primarily from the revolution that is unfolding in both labour markets and households. Four phenomena form the unifying theme of the book: equality, risks, jobs, and the new political economy. Risks and jobs are dealt with in separate chapters; the introduction discusses equality and the new political economy.
Francis G. Castles
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199270170
- eISBN:
- 9780191601514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199270171.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
Explores the themes of what follows. It argues that the welfare state literature of the past quarter century has been big on crisis theories of the welfare state and much weaker on facts. The chapter ...
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Explores the themes of what follows. It argues that the welfare state literature of the past quarter century has been big on crisis theories of the welfare state and much weaker on facts. The chapter suggests that, in order to say something meaningful about the future of the welfare state, we need to test crisis accounts, such as those built around globalization and population ageing, with facts drawn from comparative analysis to establish which are myths and which are realities.Less
Explores the themes of what follows. It argues that the welfare state literature of the past quarter century has been big on crisis theories of the welfare state and much weaker on facts. The chapter suggests that, in order to say something meaningful about the future of the welfare state, we need to test crisis accounts, such as those built around globalization and population ageing, with facts drawn from comparative analysis to establish which are myths and which are realities.
Francis G. Castles
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199270170
- eISBN:
- 9780191601514
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199270171.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Economy
Examines the supposed threat to the future trajectory of social spending posed by population ageing. An initial focus is on the contrast between the sense of crisis characterizing popular and ...
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Examines the supposed threat to the future trajectory of social spending posed by population ageing. An initial focus is on the contrast between the sense of crisis characterizing popular and governmental accounts with the more measured analysis of demographers and economists. Later sections examine a variety of welfare state programmes for the old and show that expenditure trajectories are only marginallyinfluenced by demographic considerations, but that what really influences expenditure outcomes is the differential generosity of pension provision in different families of nations. Differential generosity is also shown to be a further factor influencing aggregate patterns of social expenditure.Less
Examines the supposed threat to the future trajectory of social spending posed by population ageing. An initial focus is on the contrast between the sense of crisis characterizing popular and governmental accounts with the more measured analysis of demographers and economists. Later sections examine a variety of welfare state programmes for the old and show that expenditure trajectories are only marginallyinfluenced by demographic considerations, but that what really influences expenditure outcomes is the differential generosity of pension provision in different families of nations. Differential generosity is also shown to be a further factor influencing aggregate patterns of social expenditure.
Peter Taylor‐Gooby
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199546701
- eISBN:
- 9780191720420
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199546701.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
This chapter discusses social citizenship and identifies three main components: reciprocity (necessary to support horizontal redistribution), social inclusion (supporting vertical redistribution), ...
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This chapter discusses social citizenship and identifies three main components: reciprocity (necessary to support horizontal redistribution), social inclusion (supporting vertical redistribution), and trust in institutions (vital to the political legitimacy of the enterprise). It reviews current challenges to the welfare state from population ageing, changes in family and household patterns and in the labour market, the growing assertiveness of citizens, and other factors, and briefly examines government responses in Europe.Less
This chapter discusses social citizenship and identifies three main components: reciprocity (necessary to support horizontal redistribution), social inclusion (supporting vertical redistribution), and trust in institutions (vital to the political legitimacy of the enterprise). It reviews current challenges to the welfare state from population ageing, changes in family and household patterns and in the labour market, the growing assertiveness of citizens, and other factors, and briefly examines government responses in Europe.
John Myles
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199256433
- eISBN:
- 9780191599170
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199256438.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The key issues addressed in this chapter are how to manage the transition to pension reform in Europe so as to satisfy principles of intergenerational equality and intra‐generational justice, while ...
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The key issues addressed in this chapter are how to manage the transition to pension reform in Europe so as to satisfy principles of intergenerational equality and intra‐generational justice, while also contributing to the further democratization of retirement among men and women that has already started. The main sections of the chapter are: Managing the transition; The economics of ageing; Redesigning the retirement contract.Less
The key issues addressed in this chapter are how to manage the transition to pension reform in Europe so as to satisfy principles of intergenerational equality and intra‐generational justice, while also contributing to the further democratization of retirement among men and women that has already started. The main sections of the chapter are: Managing the transition; The economics of ageing; Redesigning the retirement contract.
Paul Pierson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198297567
- eISBN:
- 9780191600104
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198297564.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This is the third of three chapters on the sources of pressure on contemporary national welfare states, all of which seek to show how examining the sources of strain carries implications for ...
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This is the third of three chapters on the sources of pressure on contemporary national welfare states, all of which seek to show how examining the sources of strain carries implications for identifying who is likely to fight with whom over what; the authors of the three chapters are not of one mind on this issue. Here, Pierson focuses on trends within affluent democracies that constitute potential sources of the strains usually attributed to globalization. Like Iversen in the previous chapter, he highlights the role of the shift from manufacturing to services, but rather than focusing on the disruption of employment, his concern is the shift in the workforce to activities where productivity improvements are more limited; the result has been slower economic growth, which generates fiscal strain for mature welfare states. This, for Pierson, is one of a series of ‘post‐industrial shifts’ that produce severe pressures on the welfare state — others include the maturation of governmental commitments, the transformation of household structures, and population ageing. All these shifts create intense fiscal problems; in addition, social change in a context where programmes are often slow to adapt generates mismatches between the inherited capacities of welfare states and contemporary demands for social provision.Less
This is the third of three chapters on the sources of pressure on contemporary national welfare states, all of which seek to show how examining the sources of strain carries implications for identifying who is likely to fight with whom over what; the authors of the three chapters are not of one mind on this issue. Here, Pierson focuses on trends within affluent democracies that constitute potential sources of the strains usually attributed to globalization. Like Iversen in the previous chapter, he highlights the role of the shift from manufacturing to services, but rather than focusing on the disruption of employment, his concern is the shift in the workforce to activities where productivity improvements are more limited; the result has been slower economic growth, which generates fiscal strain for mature welfare states. This, for Pierson, is one of a series of ‘post‐industrial shifts’ that produce severe pressures on the welfare state — others include the maturation of governmental commitments, the transformation of household structures, and population ageing. All these shifts create intense fiscal problems; in addition, social change in a context where programmes are often slow to adapt generates mismatches between the inherited capacities of welfare states and contemporary demands for social provision.
Sarah Harper
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199251162
- eISBN:
- 9780191602740
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199251169.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines the impact of ageing societies on families based on empirical evidence from Europe, North America, and Australasia. It identifies three broad roles for families: as mechanisms ...
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This chapter examines the impact of ageing societies on families based on empirical evidence from Europe, North America, and Australasia. It identifies three broad roles for families: as mechanisms for intergenerational support, intergenerational transfer, and intergenerational solidarity. It argues that more heterogeneous forms of family are emerging, with their own sets of roles and relationships influenced by demographic, social, and cultural changes.Less
This chapter examines the impact of ageing societies on families based on empirical evidence from Europe, North America, and Australasia. It identifies three broad roles for families: as mechanisms for intergenerational support, intergenerational transfer, and intergenerational solidarity. It argues that more heterogeneous forms of family are emerging, with their own sets of roles and relationships influenced by demographic, social, and cultural changes.
Sarah Harper
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199251162
- eISBN:
- 9780191602740
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199251169.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Intergenerational tension and solidarity has been present in American family structures even before the Civil War. Kin ties remain transient and malleable. Americans still act as if they believe that ...
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Intergenerational tension and solidarity has been present in American family structures even before the Civil War. Kin ties remain transient and malleable. Americans still act as if they believe that they are part of one happy family, with many pretending to believe that blood is thicker than water. This chapter begins with a discussion on the history of the American family. It highlights developments that have altered the context in which general relations develop, and reviews some consequences of population ageing on domestic politics.Less
Intergenerational tension and solidarity has been present in American family structures even before the Civil War. Kin ties remain transient and malleable. Americans still act as if they believe that they are part of one happy family, with many pretending to believe that blood is thicker than water. This chapter begins with a discussion on the history of the American family. It highlights developments that have altered the context in which general relations develop, and reviews some consequences of population ageing on domestic politics.
Sarah Harper
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199251162
- eISBN:
- 9780191602740
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199251169.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines the availability and supportive functions of extended kin relationships in later life, drawing on the results of the Berlin Ageing study. It is shown that in addition to close ...
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This chapter examines the availability and supportive functions of extended kin relationships in later life, drawing on the results of the Berlin Ageing study. It is shown that in addition to close family, distant relatives are an important resource of social functioning in later life. Extended kinship activation is associated with reduced risk of loneliness, regardless of whether relatives were involved in specific functional transactions.Less
This chapter examines the availability and supportive functions of extended kin relationships in later life, drawing on the results of the Berlin Ageing study. It is shown that in addition to close family, distant relatives are an important resource of social functioning in later life. Extended kinship activation is associated with reduced risk of loneliness, regardless of whether relatives were involved in specific functional transactions.
Brigitte Dormont, Joaquim Oliveira Martins, Florian Pelgrin, and Marc Suhrcke
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199587131
- eISBN:
- 9780191595370
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587131.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics, Public and Welfare
This chapter deals with demographic facts. Ageing trends are the result of two different and contrasted phenomena: the change from a high to a low fertility regime and the increase in longevity. The ...
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This chapter deals with demographic facts. Ageing trends are the result of two different and contrasted phenomena: the change from a high to a low fertility regime and the increase in longevity. The baby boom and subsequent fertility bust was a massive but transitory shock. In contrast, the smooth and steady increase in longevity does look like a permanent shock. The critical condition for these potential longevity gains to materialise in longer working lives is a dynamic equilibrium between the increase in life expectancy and the number of years in good health (the so-called ‘healthy ageing’ regime).Less
This chapter deals with demographic facts. Ageing trends are the result of two different and contrasted phenomena: the change from a high to a low fertility regime and the increase in longevity. The baby boom and subsequent fertility bust was a massive but transitory shock. In contrast, the smooth and steady increase in longevity does look like a permanent shock. The critical condition for these potential longevity gains to materialise in longer working lives is a dynamic equilibrium between the increase in life expectancy and the number of years in good health (the so-called ‘healthy ageing’ regime).
Sarah Harper
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199251162
- eISBN:
- 9780191602740
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199251169.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines the impact of contemporary American family structure on the ageing process. It is shown that mature Americans will have increasingly heterogeneous family histories and statues. ...
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This chapter examines the impact of contemporary American family structure on the ageing process. It is shown that mature Americans will have increasingly heterogeneous family histories and statues. Thus, the importance of family to the ageing experience will increase.Less
This chapter examines the impact of contemporary American family structure on the ageing process. It is shown that mature Americans will have increasingly heterogeneous family histories and statues. Thus, the importance of family to the ageing experience will increase.
Andrew Pickles, Barbara Maughan, and Michael Wadsworth (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780198528487
- eISBN:
- 9780191723940
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198528487.001.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
Life course epidemiology is developing rapidly in the context of new knowledge about the biology of development and ageing and gene-environment interplay. This book is concerned with design, ...
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Life course epidemiology is developing rapidly in the context of new knowledge about the biology of development and ageing and gene-environment interplay. This book is concerned with design, measurement, and analysis of life course data. Study design chapters are concerned with models of the life course development of risk, the effect of individual differences, the study of genetic effects, and intervention in life course designs. Analysis chapters deal with time-varying exposure, missingness, analysis of multivariate outcomes, estimation of causality, structural equation modelling, and trajectory analysis. The intention is to provide a guide to the evaluation of interacting developmental, environmental, and genetic effects in studies of the processes and origins of risk, resilience, and ageing.Less
Life course epidemiology is developing rapidly in the context of new knowledge about the biology of development and ageing and gene-environment interplay. This book is concerned with design, measurement, and analysis of life course data. Study design chapters are concerned with models of the life course development of risk, the effect of individual differences, the study of genetic effects, and intervention in life course designs. Analysis chapters deal with time-varying exposure, missingness, analysis of multivariate outcomes, estimation of causality, structural equation modelling, and trajectory analysis. The intention is to provide a guide to the evaluation of interacting developmental, environmental, and genetic effects in studies of the processes and origins of risk, resilience, and ageing.
Diana Kuh and Rebecca Hardy (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780192632890
- eISBN:
- 9780191723629
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632890.001.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
How far is the health of middle-aged and older women shaped by biological, social, and psychological processes that begin in pre-natal development, childhood, adolescence, or early adult life? Do ...
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How far is the health of middle-aged and older women shaped by biological, social, and psychological processes that begin in pre-natal development, childhood, adolescence, or early adult life? Do health risks gradually accumulate over the life course or do experiences as a child and young adult have interactive effects on health in midlife and beyond? Are women now reaching middle age in better health than those from previous generations? This book reviews the latest scientific evidence on biological and social factors at each stage of life that have long-term effects on reproductive outcomes, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal ageing, depression, body weight, and body dissatisfaction. There is growing evidence that the sources of risk to physical and mental health occur across the course of life, not just in adult life, and in some instances reach right back to pre-natal development, or the previous generation. Contributors in this book draw on their varied expertise in epidemiology, endocrinology, physiology, developmental psychology, sociology, and anthropology to identify the pathways that link early life experiences, reproductive events, adult lifestyle and lifetime socio-economic circumstances to later health. This book looks for connections between development and ageing, and between the childhood and adult social environment.Less
How far is the health of middle-aged and older women shaped by biological, social, and psychological processes that begin in pre-natal development, childhood, adolescence, or early adult life? Do health risks gradually accumulate over the life course or do experiences as a child and young adult have interactive effects on health in midlife and beyond? Are women now reaching middle age in better health than those from previous generations? This book reviews the latest scientific evidence on biological and social factors at each stage of life that have long-term effects on reproductive outcomes, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal ageing, depression, body weight, and body dissatisfaction. There is growing evidence that the sources of risk to physical and mental health occur across the course of life, not just in adult life, and in some instances reach right back to pre-natal development, or the previous generation. Contributors in this book draw on their varied expertise in epidemiology, endocrinology, physiology, developmental psychology, sociology, and anthropology to identify the pathways that link early life experiences, reproductive events, adult lifestyle and lifetime socio-economic circumstances to later health. This book looks for connections between development and ageing, and between the childhood and adult social environment.
Pekka Ilmakunnas, Jan van Ours, Vegard Skirbekk, and Matthias Weiss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199587131
- eISBN:
- 9780191595370
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587131.003.0015
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics, Public and Welfare
This concluding chapter contributes to the discussion in two ways. First, it presents a ‘grand view’ in which it discusses the various components of productivity in detail, and then looks at ...
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This concluding chapter contributes to the discussion in two ways. First, it presents a ‘grand view’ in which it discusses the various components of productivity in detail, and then looks at long-term historical developments where changing economic structures are taken into account. Second, it presents results from an empirical analysis in which it considers both the ‘extensive margin’ of productivity (absenteeism at an individual level) and the ‘intensive margin’ of productivity (productivity conditional on being present at work at a group level or firm level).Less
This concluding chapter contributes to the discussion in two ways. First, it presents a ‘grand view’ in which it discusses the various components of productivity in detail, and then looks at long-term historical developments where changing economic structures are taken into account. Second, it presents results from an empirical analysis in which it considers both the ‘extensive margin’ of productivity (absenteeism at an individual level) and the ‘intensive margin’ of productivity (productivity conditional on being present at work at a group level or firm level).
Zhongwei Zhao and Fei Guo (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199299294
- eISBN:
- 9780191715082
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299294.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, South and East Asia
This book examines the major demographic changes that have taken in China in recent decades and the major demographic challenges at the beginning of the 21st century. The extensive evidence presented ...
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This book examines the major demographic changes that have taken in China in recent decades and the major demographic challenges at the beginning of the 21st century. The extensive evidence presented in the book demonstrates that China has been going through a profound demographic revolution characterized by drastic mortality decline, unprecedented fertility transition, rapid increase of internal migration, fast change in population age structure, and remarkable variations in demographic patterns across different regions and among various ethnic groups. The book systematically analyzes challenges brought about by these changes and their impact on China's future socio-economic development. On the basis of their extensive research and newly available data, contributors to this book provide the latest updated and insightful studies on a wide range of population issues.Less
This book examines the major demographic changes that have taken in China in recent decades and the major demographic challenges at the beginning of the 21st century. The extensive evidence presented in the book demonstrates that China has been going through a profound demographic revolution characterized by drastic mortality decline, unprecedented fertility transition, rapid increase of internal migration, fast change in population age structure, and remarkable variations in demographic patterns across different regions and among various ethnic groups. The book systematically analyzes challenges brought about by these changes and their impact on China's future socio-economic development. On the basis of their extensive research and newly available data, contributors to this book provide the latest updated and insightful studies on a wide range of population issues.
Cathrine Degnen
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780719083082
- eISBN:
- 9781781706244
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719083082.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
Seeking to better understand what it means to grow older in contemporary Britain from the perspective of older people themselves, this richly detailed ethnographic study engages in debates over ...
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Seeking to better understand what it means to grow older in contemporary Britain from the perspective of older people themselves, this richly detailed ethnographic study engages in debates over selfhood and people’s relationships with time. Based on research conducted in an English former coal mining village, the book focuses on the everyday experiences of older people living there. It explores how the category of old age comes to be assigned and experienced in daily life through multiple registers of interaction. These include ‘memory work’ about people, places and webs of relations in a postindustrial setting that has undergone profound social transformation. Challenging both the notion of a homogenous relationship with time across generations and the idea of a universalised middle-aged self, the author argues that the complex interplay of social, cultural and physical attributes of ageing means that older people can come to occupy a different position in relation to time and to the self than younger people. This account provides fascinating insight into what is at stake for the ageing self in regards to how people come to know, experience and dwell in the world. It describes the ways in which these distinctive forms of temporality and narrativity also come to be used against older people, denigrated socially in some contexts as ‘less-than-fully adult’. This text will be of great interest to researchers and students in anthropology, sociology, human geography and social gerontology working on interests in selfhood, time, memory, the anthropology of Britain and the lived experience of social change.Less
Seeking to better understand what it means to grow older in contemporary Britain from the perspective of older people themselves, this richly detailed ethnographic study engages in debates over selfhood and people’s relationships with time. Based on research conducted in an English former coal mining village, the book focuses on the everyday experiences of older people living there. It explores how the category of old age comes to be assigned and experienced in daily life through multiple registers of interaction. These include ‘memory work’ about people, places and webs of relations in a postindustrial setting that has undergone profound social transformation. Challenging both the notion of a homogenous relationship with time across generations and the idea of a universalised middle-aged self, the author argues that the complex interplay of social, cultural and physical attributes of ageing means that older people can come to occupy a different position in relation to time and to the self than younger people. This account provides fascinating insight into what is at stake for the ageing self in regards to how people come to know, experience and dwell in the world. It describes the ways in which these distinctive forms of temporality and narrativity also come to be used against older people, denigrated socially in some contexts as ‘less-than-fully adult’. This text will be of great interest to researchers and students in anthropology, sociology, human geography and social gerontology working on interests in selfhood, time, memory, the anthropology of Britain and the lived experience of social change.
Virpi Timonen
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781447330172
- eISBN:
- 9781447330219
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447330172.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gerontology and Ageing
This book argues that concepts such as successful, active, positive, healthy and productive ageing - ubiquitous terms in research, marketing and policymaking concerned with older adults – are ...
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This book argues that concepts such as successful, active, positive, healthy and productive ageing - ubiquitous terms in research, marketing and policymaking concerned with older adults – are paradigms that reflect and exacerbate inequalities in older populations. The book presents a new theory to make sense of the popularity of this family of successful and active ageing concepts. Readers are invited to view them through the prism of model ageing – a new social theory that throws light on the causes and consequences of attempts to model ageing as a phenomenon and stage of the life course that is in need of direction, reshaping and control. The term model ageing encapsulates systems of ideation pertaining to the question of ‘how to age in contemporary Western society’: these systems amount to a distinctive and coherent social construction of what it is to live like a model older person in 21st-century welfare states. Model ageing comprises policy ideals, commercial depictions and academic conceptualisations of what model old adults are or ought to be like. The theory of model ageing offers an explanatory account of the origins, mechanics and consequences of this ubiquitous activity of modelling ageing. This is an interpretive theory that seeks to make sense of how later life is socially constructed and moulded in contemporary aged societies.Less
This book argues that concepts such as successful, active, positive, healthy and productive ageing - ubiquitous terms in research, marketing and policymaking concerned with older adults – are paradigms that reflect and exacerbate inequalities in older populations. The book presents a new theory to make sense of the popularity of this family of successful and active ageing concepts. Readers are invited to view them through the prism of model ageing – a new social theory that throws light on the causes and consequences of attempts to model ageing as a phenomenon and stage of the life course that is in need of direction, reshaping and control. The term model ageing encapsulates systems of ideation pertaining to the question of ‘how to age in contemporary Western society’: these systems amount to a distinctive and coherent social construction of what it is to live like a model older person in 21st-century welfare states. Model ageing comprises policy ideals, commercial depictions and academic conceptualisations of what model old adults are or ought to be like. The theory of model ageing offers an explanatory account of the origins, mechanics and consequences of this ubiquitous activity of modelling ageing. This is an interpretive theory that seeks to make sense of how later life is socially constructed and moulded in contemporary aged societies.
Mark Thomas and Paul Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263471
- eISBN:
- 9780191734786
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263471.003.0018
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter focuses on one fundamental aspects of an ageing population — how to pay for old age, individually and collectively. It also presents a study of the history of old age support in the UK ...
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This chapter focuses on one fundamental aspects of an ageing population — how to pay for old age, individually and collectively. It also presents a study of the history of old age support in the UK and US and concludes that despite the quite different beginnings of the public pension and social security systems, government policy in both countries has become similarly locked in to a set of institutional arrangements which were devised to respond to immediate social and economic problems, but which have acquired a rationale and a dynamic of their own.Less
This chapter focuses on one fundamental aspects of an ageing population — how to pay for old age, individually and collectively. It also presents a study of the history of old age support in the UK and US and concludes that despite the quite different beginnings of the public pension and social security systems, government policy in both countries has become similarly locked in to a set of institutional arrangements which were devised to respond to immediate social and economic problems, but which have acquired a rationale and a dynamic of their own.
Feng Wang and Andrew Mason
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199299294
- eISBN:
- 9780191715082
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299294.003.0011
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, South and East Asia
This chapter examines the major consequences, especially economic consequences, of population ageing. It shows that population ageing not only opens a demographic window for economic development by ...
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This chapter examines the major consequences, especially economic consequences, of population ageing. It shows that population ageing not only opens a demographic window for economic development by providing the first demographic dividend, but also has the potential to provide a second demographic dividend because changes in age structure influence the processes that lead to the creation of wealth. Such dividends could play a crucial part in China's future economic development.Less
This chapter examines the major consequences, especially economic consequences, of population ageing. It shows that population ageing not only opens a demographic window for economic development by providing the first demographic dividend, but also has the potential to provide a second demographic dividend because changes in age structure influence the processes that lead to the creation of wealth. Such dividends could play a crucial part in China's future economic development.
