Aging, Society, and the Life Course, Sixth Edition by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Gerontology, Psychology, Developmental, Adulthood & Aging, Medical, Nursing, Social Work, Public Health
ISBN: 9780826180353
Google: Q0oUEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
Published: 2021-05-07T05:19:26+00:00

POLICY AND THE ECONOMIC STATUS OF OLDER ADULTS

Income Maintenance Systems

In some countries of the world, older persons are protected by income maintenance systems: public, private, or combined systems for supporting people who are older, poor, and/or ill. Typically, these programs use public monies or funds generated through employment. The idea of public policies to provide income to persons in their later lives, after they are no longer involved in the labor force, grew from many roots. Central among these roots for the United States was the British system of Poor Laws, which emerged in the 17th century. Poor Laws included older persons among the deserving poor—citizens lacking the means to support themselves through no fault of their own. Poor older adults and others without adequate financial resources were considered deserving of society’s support if they had worked hard, tried to support themselves and save, not drunk or gambled away their money. The deserving poor received either a modest pension or food and lodging in a workhouse or poorhouse run by the community. From this beginning, a set of public and private programs has evolved in many countries of the world; these programs are intended to maintain at least minimal income for older persons who have retired or become economically dependent. Whether a country offers an income maintenance program and what kind of program it is (e.g., who is covered, how it is funded, how generous the benefits are) depend on a number of factors, including the economic stability and strength of the country, the size of the working-age population, and competing priorities for resources. For example, a country with a growing younger population may need to invest heavily in health, education, and training programs to support the economic growth that the working population can produce. In such a country, especially if resources are limited, programs to protect the financial security of older adults may take second place.

In its early years, the U.S. system to support the deserving poor kept changing between pensions and poorhouses, because the public worried that providing cash income (pension) from public funds would discourage personal responsibility, undermine the duty of family to provide support, and increase the financial burden to the community. The poorhouse, a truly unattractive alternative, was believed by some to motivate personal and family responsibility. This debate about maintaining individual and family responsibility for the care of dependent elders and other deserving poor persons continues today, as the United States and other societies struggle with the tension between individual and collective responsibility for older adults and others in need. Just as in the era of poorhouses, concerns are voiced today that comfortable levels of government benefits undermine the responsibility of individuals toward their families and their own economic support, echoing centuries of debate on this topic.

The interest of governments in establishing income maintenance policies is not purely altruistic. As Schulz and Myles (1990) point out in their classic work, countries that develop industrial and postindustrial economies need ways to deal with persons unable to participate as workers for reasons of poor health or advanced age.

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