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.
Paul A. David and Mark Thomas (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263471
- eISBN:
- 9780191734786
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263471.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This book shows how analysis of past experiences contributes to a better understanding of present-day economic conditions; chapters offer important insights into major challenges that will occupy the ...
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This book shows how analysis of past experiences contributes to a better understanding of present-day economic conditions; chapters offer important insights into major challenges that will occupy the attention of policy makers in the coming decades. The seventeen chapters are organised around three major themes, the first of which is the changing constellation of forces sustaining long-run economic growth in market economies. The second major theme concerns the contemporary challenges posed by transitions in economic and political regimes, and by ideologies that represent legacies from past economic conditions that still affect policy responses to new ‘crises’. The third theme is modern economic growth's diverse implications for human economic welfare — in terms of economic security, nutritional and health status, and old age support — and the institutional mechanisms communities have developed to cope with the risks that individuals are exposed to by the concomitants of rising prosperity.Less
This book shows how analysis of past experiences contributes to a better understanding of present-day economic conditions; chapters offer important insights into major challenges that will occupy the attention of policy makers in the coming decades. The seventeen chapters are organised around three major themes, the first of which is the changing constellation of forces sustaining long-run economic growth in market economies. The second major theme concerns the contemporary challenges posed by transitions in economic and political regimes, and by ideologies that represent legacies from past economic conditions that still affect policy responses to new ‘crises’. The third theme is modern economic growth's diverse implications for human economic welfare — in terms of economic security, nutritional and health status, and old age support — and the institutional mechanisms communities have developed to cope with the risks that individuals are exposed to by the concomitants of rising prosperity.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9789888139446
- eISBN:
- 9789888180349
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888139446.003.0019
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
In the 2012 contest for chief executive, the two candidates, Leung Chun Ying and Henry Tang, both put forth proposals for old age social security support. In this chapter, the author estimates the ...
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In the 2012 contest for chief executive, the two candidates, Leung Chun Ying and Henry Tang, both put forth proposals for old age social security support. In this chapter, the author estimates the long-term cost of the proposals made by Leung and Tang and compares them with the long-term cost of the current welfare payments for the elderly. Their proposals are also compared with the one put forward by Professor Chow Wing-sun. Among the three proposals, conspicuously Leung's is the most affordable one. It is important to separate the issues of poverty and financing old age support. This chapter discusses three critical factors which led to the formation of government-funded old age social security schemes in the West, and states that the public must think twice about allowing our politicians to follow the footsteps of British politicians in the past.Less
In the 2012 contest for chief executive, the two candidates, Leung Chun Ying and Henry Tang, both put forth proposals for old age social security support. In this chapter, the author estimates the long-term cost of the proposals made by Leung and Tang and compares them with the long-term cost of the current welfare payments for the elderly. Their proposals are also compared with the one put forward by Professor Chow Wing-sun. Among the three proposals, conspicuously Leung's is the most affordable one. It is important to separate the issues of poverty and financing old age support. This chapter discusses three critical factors which led to the formation of government-funded old age social security schemes in the West, and states that the public must think twice about allowing our politicians to follow the footsteps of British politicians in the past.
Michael J. Trebilcock
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199370658
- eISBN:
- 9780199370672
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199370658.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
In many developed countries around the world, public pension schemes have become fiscally unsustainable with rising life expectancies and declining birth rates (i.e., a decreasing old age support ...
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In many developed countries around the world, public pension schemes have become fiscally unsustainable with rising life expectancies and declining birth rates (i.e., a decreasing old age support ratio). Reforming public pension systems to render them fiscally sustainable in the long-run could in theory entail cuts in benefits, increases in contributions, or increases in the eligibility age. This chapter argues that in general a gradual increase in the eligibility age yields a reasonable balance between political feasibility and widely held notions of fairness.Less
In many developed countries around the world, public pension schemes have become fiscally unsustainable with rising life expectancies and declining birth rates (i.e., a decreasing old age support ratio). Reforming public pension systems to render them fiscally sustainable in the long-run could in theory entail cuts in benefits, increases in contributions, or increases in the eligibility age. This chapter argues that in general a gradual increase in the eligibility age yields a reasonable balance between political feasibility and widely held notions of fairness.
