May 2018

27May

Universal Social Protection Floors: Costing Estimates and Affordability in 57 Lower Income Countries

By Isabel Ortiz (United Nations - International Labour Organization (ILO); Initiative for Policy Dialogue), Fabio Duran (International Labour Organization (ILO)), Karuna Pal (International Labour Organization (ILO)), Christina Behrendt (International Labour Office) & Andres Acuña-Ulate (International Labour Organization (ILO)) This paper presents the results of costing universal social protection floors in 34 lower middle-income, and 23 low-income countries, consisting of: (i) allowances for all children and all orphans; (ii) maternity benefits for all women with newborns; (iii) benefits for all persons...

May 27, 2018
Articles, Labor Market, System Sustainability, ,
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14May

As the World Ages: Rethinking a Demographic Crisis

By Kavita Sivaramakrishnan Sivaramakrishnan People are living longer, creating an unexpected boom in the elderly population. Longevity is increasing not only in wealthy countries but in developing nations as well. In response, many policy makers and scholars are preparing for a global crisis of aging. But for too long, Western experts have conceived of aging as a universal predicament—one that supposedly provokes the same welfare concerns in every context. In the twenty-first century, Kavita Sivaramakrishnan writes, we must embrace a...

May 14, 2018
Aging, Books, System Sustainability, ,
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07May

The State of Social Safety Nets 2018

By World Bank  The State of Social Safety Nets 2018 Report examines global trends in the social safety net/social assistance coverage, spending, and program performance based on the World Bank Atlas of Social Protection Indicators of Resilience and Equity (ASPIRE) updated database. The report documents the main social safety net programs that exist globally and their use to alleviate poverty and to build shared prosperity. The 2018 report expands on the 2015 edition, both in administrative and household survey data...

May 7, 2018
Books, Pension design, System Sustainability,
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March 2018

19Mar

Gender and Social Security Reform: What’s Fair for Women?

By Neil Gilbert Aging populations are creating tremendous pressures on social security systems throughout the world, lifting the need for reform to the top of policy agendas. Proposed reforms often have different implications for men and women. At the same time, traditional family and gender roles are changing with the decline in fertility rates and the rapid rise in women's participation in the paid labor force.While trying to adapt social security systems to the fiscal demands of aging societies, policymakers...

March 19, 2018
Books, Labor Market, Pension design, ,
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19Mar

The High Cost of Good Intentions: A History of U.S. Federal Entitlement Programs

By John F. Cogan Federal entitlement programs are strewn throughout the pages of U.S. history, springing from the noble purpose of assisting people who are destitute through no fault of their own. Yet as federal entitlement programs have grown, so too have their inefficiency and their cost. Neither tax revenues nor revenues generated by the national economy have been able to keep pace with their rising growth, bringing the national debt to a record peacetime level. The High Cost of...

March 19, 2018
Books, Pension design, System Sustainability, , ,
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19Mar

Rescuing Retirement

By Teresa Ghilarducci,‎ Tony James,‎ Timothy Geithner Everyone deserves to be able to retire with dignity, but this core feature of the social contract is in jeopardy. Companies have swerved away from pensions, and most of the workforce has woefully inadequate retirement savings. If we don’t act to fix this broken system, rates of impoverishment for senior citizens threaten to skyrocket, and tens of millions of Americans reaching retirement age in the coming decades will be forced to delay retirement...

March 19, 2018
Books, Labor Market, Pension design,
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February 2018

26Feb

Poverty Among Older People and Pensions Policy in the EU (Public Policy and Social Welfare)

By Asghar Zaidi Based on research work financed by the European Commission under their programme of Community Action to Combat Social Exclusion, this book offers a comprehensive picture of the present state of later-life poverty across the 25 member states of the European Union. The authors analyze the poverty risks older people are currently facing in combination with a detailed study on the current European data-sets used to measure these risks. They provide a detailed description of recent pension reforms...

February 26, 2018
Books, Pension design, ,
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26Feb

Exploring the Risks and Consequences of Elder Fraud Victimization: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

By Marguerite DeLiema (Stanford University - Stanford Center on Longevity), Martha Deevy (Stanford University - Stanford Center on Longevity), Annamaria Lusardi (George Washington University - Department of Accountancy; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)) & Olivia S. Mitchell (University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)) This is the first study to use longitudinal data to explore both the antecedents and consequences of fraud victimization in the older population. Because older persons are close to...

February 26, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, Slider-Left,
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19Feb

Improving the Targeting of Social Programs in Ghana

By Quentin Wodon This study provides a diagnostic of the benefit incidence and targeting performance of a large number of social programs in Ghana. Both broad-based programs (such as spending for education and health, and subsidies for food, oil-related products and electricity) as well as targetd programs (such as LEAP, the indigent exemption under the NHIS, school lunches and uniforms, or fertilizer subsidies) are considered. In addition, the study provides tools and recommendations for better targeting of those programs in...

February 19, 2018
Books, System Sustainability, , ,
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12Feb

Headed for the Poorhouse: How to Ensure Seniors Don't Run Out of Cash Before They Run Out of Time

By Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald (Ryerson University - The National Institute of Aging (NIA)) Income security in later life (age 85) is more important now than ever. More attention needs to be paid to how Canadians can best draw down their savings after retirement and secure adequate income for advanced ages. Retiring Canadians need innovative solutions – ones that add definitive value but place no new pressures on the Canadian public purse. I propose a government-led solution: Canada’s Living Income For the...

February 12, 2018
Aging, Articles, Savings, ,
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