The New Politics Of Old Age Policy

by Hudson, Robert B.

• ISBN13: 9780801880742
• ISBN10: 0801880742
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-04-22
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

As the aging population of the United States continues to increase, age-related policies have come under intense scrutiny and have sparked heated debates. Demographic, economic, and political trends have transformed the understanding of older people's role in America's public policy. The New Politics of Old Age Policy offers a variety of perspectives on these policy issues -- particularly the relative merits of using chronological age to determine eligibility for government programs. The chapters address theoretical approaches to age-based policy; population dynamics and how growing diversity within the older population may affect these policies; issues surrounding major age-based programs such as Social Security and Medicare; and the national, state, and local political issues associated with these policies. Contributors: Robert Applebaum, Ph.D., Miami University; Robert H. Binstock, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University; Alan Burnett, M.A., Area Agency on Aging, Ohio; Chenoa A. Flippen, Ph.D., Duke University; Judith G. Gonyea, Ph.D., Boston University School of Social Work; Colleen M. Grogan, Ph.D., University of Chicago; Madonna Harrington Meyer, Ph.D., Syracuse University; Pamela Herd, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin; Martha B. Holstein, Ph.D., consultant, Chicago; Eric R. Kingson, Ph.D., Syracuse University; Marc Molea, M.H.A., Ohio Department of Aging; Marilyn Moon, Ph.D., American Institutes for Research; John Myles, Ph.D., University of Toronto; Christy M. Nishita, University of Southern California; Angela M. O'Rand, Ph.D., Duke University; Jon Pynoos, Ph.D., University of Southern California; Sarah Poff Roman, M.G.S., Miami University; Steven M. Teles, Ph.D., Brandeis University.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	ix
Preface	xi
Contemporary Challenges to Age-Based Policy	1	(22)
Robert B. Hudson
I. Perspectives on Age-Based Policy
A Normative Defense of Universal Age-Based Public Policy	23	(19)
Martha B. Holstein
What Justice Requires: A Normative Foundation for U.S. Pension Reform	42	(23)
John Myles
Decreasing Welfare, Increasing Old Age Inequality: Whose Responsibility Is It?	65	(25)
Madonna Harrington Meyer
Social Security and the Paradoxes of Welfare State Conservatism	90	(19)
Steven M. Teles
II. Age-Based Policy and Population Dynamics
When Old Age Begins: Implications for Health, Work, and Retirement	109	(20)
Angela M. O'Rand
Minority Workers and Pathways to Retirement	129	(28)
Chenoa A. Flippen
The Oldest Old and a Long-Lived Society: Challenges for Public Policy	157	(26)
Judith G. Gonyea
III. Age-Based Public Policies
Reframing Social Security: Cures Worse than the Disease	183	(22)
Pamela Herd
Eric R. Kingson
Sustaining Medicare as an Age-Related Program	205	(14)
Marilyn Moon
The Politics of Aging within Medicaid	219	(25)
Colleen M. Grogan
The Changing Face of Senior Housing	244	(21)
Jon Pynoos
Christy M. Nishita
IV. Old Age Politics and Policy
The Contemporary Politics of Old Age Policies	265	(29)
Robert H. Binstock
Using Local Tax Levies to Fund Programs for Older People: Good Politics and Good Policy?	294	(11)
Robert Applebaum
Sarah Poff Roman
Marc Molea
Alan Burnett
Index	305