Search Results

This chapter, which analyzes the trends in labor force participation and transitions to benefit programs of older workers in Spain, shows that despite the large improvements in mortality rates among older individuals, the employment rates of individuals over fifty-five remain lower compared to the rates observed in the late 1970s. There is no conclusive evidence on whether morbidity has improved or worsened during the period of analysis. Regarding the effects of social security reforms, the study finds that both the 1997 and the 2002 reforms decreased the stock into old-age benefits at the cost of an increased share into disability.

This chapter examines changes in health and disability-related transfers in the UK over the last thirty years and their relation to changes in labor force participation. It first traces the evolution of transfers targeted toward people with disabilities in the UK, focusing on recent reforms and the distinctive features of these benefits compared to their equivalents in other countries. The chapter then presents the evidence on the different pathways to retirement in the UK, and the evidence on various health measures, including mortality and self-reported health, contrasting these with labor market outcomes. Next, it discusses two major reforms of the UK disability benefit system—the 1995 reform and the more recent “Pathways-to-Work” program—which help shed light on the long-term changes in disability prevalence in the UK.

This chapter, which examines the link between pension reforms and take-up of disability benefits and, more generally, the importance of health considerations in the design of pension policies, begins with an overview of older workers’ participation to the labor market. It then describes the main historical changes that occurred in the pension system, in early retirement schemes, and in disability benefits, focusing on interactions that took place until the early eighties. This is followed by discussions of two changes that occurred post-1990: the 1993 pension reform which restricted access to full pension benefits at sixty; and increased control over sickness leaves covered by health insurance in 2003. It is shown that institutional changes or changes in the intensity of controls are sufficient to explain the changes in the take-up of disability benefits. There is also a lack of correlation between health and labor market status.

Chapter 11 evaluate the literature and policy studies and resulting proposals, including one from the former Deputy Commissioner for Disability Policy Marc Warshawsky, to alter the SSA disability standard. It analyzes transformations and trends in the twenty-first century low-skill labor market and the policy literature animating the political call for restrictive social security “reform.”

The previous chapters make a clear case for occupational upgrading. Yet upgrading may not warrant excessive optimism if it comes at the cost of unemployment – if the low educated have simply been pushed out of the labour market. Accordingly, this chapter examines the link between upgrading and unemployment, notably unemployment of the low educated. Since unemployment is just one form of labour market exit, the focus then shifts to low educated workers’ employment rates and notably the evolution in the number of disability benefit claimants. Regardless of the indicator chosen, there is little support for the assumption that occupational upgrading undermined low educated workers’ position in the labour market. This chapter concludes by discussing how it was possible for large numbers of low-skilled jobs to disappear without leading to a significant rise in low educated unemployment.

This chapter traces the government's attempts to remove structural barriers and disincentives to work within the disability-benefits system itself, and to provide financial incentives to do paid work. It looks at the intention and mechanism of various new structural and administrative arrangements, and what evidence there is about the outcomes. The chapter finds that although there have been advantages and new opportunities for some people, conflicts and tensions remain.

This chapter discusses how the US tax code—like many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country tax codes—favors capital over labor, and thereby is at odds with fundamental tenets of human rights and policy principles regarding equity. This bias in favor of capital may not only be counterproductive in terms of its impacts on revenue generation and tax administration. It also entrenches inequalities and disregards the ways in which the human body, with its labor capacity, is the most essential “asset” on which most people rely. Therefore, labor should enjoy the preferences, such as the realization principle and depreciation, from which capital currently benefits. The chapter then outlines a course of investigation for further study including contrasting Social Security old-age pension and disability benefits, and exploring the consequences of shifting property to accrual accounting while providing the human body with generous depreciation deductions and tax deferral through realization.