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Poverty among elderly Asian Americans in the twenty-first century
- Authors:
- PHUA VoonChin, MCNALLY James W., PARK Keong-Suk
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Poverty, 11(2), 2007, pp.73-92.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Data from the 2000 US Census are used to examine differences in the poverty status of elderly Asians by marital status, household structure and place of birth. The results highlight the heterogeneity of the population with, for example, elderly Japanese people less likely to be living in poverty than those from other Asian backgrounds. Similarly, there is considerable variation in the results when analysed by immigration status: immigrants, overall, have a higher risk of living in poverty than US-born respondents, but there are considerable differences between ethnic groups. Living with family members confers a comparative financial advantage on elderly Asian Americans but the authors argue that this pattern of living may be a response to poverty rather than an expression of preference. Until more detailed data are collected on this section of the elderly population, many assumptions about the ageing life-course of Asian Americans will remain speculative. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).
Spotlight report 2007: spotlight on older people in the UK
- Author:
- HELP THE AGED
- Publisher:
- Help the Aged
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 40p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This Report reveals what life is like for older people in the UK today. Behind every statistic are human beings, whose stories provide a vivid commentary throughout this report. Help the Aged calls for an end to the injustice that remains entrenched in so many areas of our society and those taking part in the survey articulate the urgency of this challenge.
The Bulgarian pension reform: post-accession issues and challenges
- Authors:
- ASENOVA Darinka, MCKINNON Roddy
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 17(4), November 2007, pp.389-396.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Focusing on the social impacts of the 2000—2 pension reform in Bulgaria, the article examines how Bulgarian pensioners cope with income risk in old age. Reporting that old-age pensions are frequently inadequate to household consumption needs, the authors argue for more generous tax-financed social pensions alongside contributory pension provision, to combat old-age poverty. As the poorest country to date to achieve European Union accession, the article concludes by suggesting that Bulgaria's pursuit of fuller integration and development within the EU cannot be divorced from better meeting the social security needs of its ageing population.
Charity or entitlement? Generational habitus and the welfare state among older people in North-east England
- Authors:
- MOFFATT Suzanne, HIGGS Paul
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 41(5), October 2007, pp.449-464.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Current UK policies aimed at reducing pensioner poverty involve targeting those in greatest need by supplementing their incomes with means-tested welfare benefits. It is believed that such policies provide more resources for those in greatest need. However, non-uptake of state welfare benefits by many older UK citizens exacerbates the widening income gap between the richest and poorest pensioners. The authors examine the underlying beliefs and discourses among those currently in retirement who lived through a time when welfare programmes had more of a putative abstract universalism than is now the case. Based on the narratives of people aged over 60 in North-east England, the study shows how the collective forces of structure and individual practice in relation to welfare accumulate over a lifetime and influence the ways in which people interact with the welfare system in later life. Results find that the reasons for the apparent lack of agency among older people in relation to claiming benefit entitlements are linked to the particular social, economic and political circumstances which have prevailed at various points prior to and since the inception of the UK welfare state. The authors argue that the failure of some older citizens to operate as citizen consumers can be conceptualized in terms of a generational welfare ‘habitus’, the consequences of which are likely to exacerbate inequalities in later life.
Low-income older adults' acceptance of depression treatments: examination of within-group differences
- Authors:
- CHOI Namkee G., MORROW-HOWELL Nancy
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 11(4), July 2007, pp.423-433.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Using the 11-item Treatment Evaluation Inventory (TEI), a community sample of 79 homebound and 127 ambulatory older adults rated their acceptance of four depression treatments for two hypothetical cases with mild-to-moderate or severe levels of depressive symptoms. The four treatments were clinic-based cognitive therapy (CT), in-home cognitive bibliotherapy (CB), antidepressant medication (AM), and regimented physical exercise (PE). Older adults had significantly less favourable attitudes toward AM than CT as a treatment for mild-to-moderate symptoms, and they were less accepting of CB than CT for severe symptoms. Concerns about becoming dependent on medication and about its side effects as well as the understanding of loneliness and isolation as causes of depression appear to have affected their scores. African American and Hispanic older adults showed attitudes that were as favourable as those of their non-Hispanic white peers toward all four types of depression treatments. Homebound older adults had less favourable attitudes toward CB than did their ambulatory peers.
Socioeconomic differences in health among older adults in Mexico
- Authors:
- SMITH Kimberly, GOLDMAN Noreen
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 65(7), October 2007, pp.1372-1385.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Although the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health is well-established in Western industrialized countries, few studies have examined this association in developing countries, particularly among older cohorts. We use the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a nationally representative survey of Mexicans age 50 and older, to investigate the linkages between three indicators of SES (education, income, and wealth) and a set of health outcomes and behaviours in more and less urban areas of Mexico. We consider three measures of current health (self-rated health and two measures of physical functioning) and three behavioural indicators (obesity, smoking, and alcohol consumption). In urban areas, we find patterns similar to those in industrialized countries: higher SES individuals are more likely to report better health than their lower SES counterparts, regardless of the SES measure considered. In contrast, we find few significant SES–health associations in less urban areas. The results for health behaviours are generally similar between the two areas of residence. One exception is the education–obesity relationship. Our results suggest that education is a protective factor for obesity in urban areas and a risk factor in less urban areas. Contrary to patterns in the industrialized world, income is associated with higher rates of obesity, smoking, and excessive alcohol consumption. We also evaluate age and sex differences in the SES–health relationship among older Mexicans. The results suggest that further economic development in Mexico may lead to a widening of socioeconomic inequalities in health. The study also provides insight into why socioeconomic gradients in health are weak among Mexican-Americans and underscores the importance of understanding health inequalities in Latin America for research on Hispanic health patterns in the US.
Aspirations in older age
- Author:
- HENWOOD Melanie
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 24.05.07, 2007, p.38,40.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
The author examines the findings of two studies. The first looks at older people's needs and resources, focusing particularly on poverty and hardship in later life. The second study looked at how older people use and value their resources, and how they plan for retirement and for later life.
Exceptions to the rule: healthy deprived areas and unhealthy wealthy areas
- Authors:
- VAN HOOIJDONK Carolien, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 64(6), March 2007, pp.1326-1342.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
In general, inhabitants of low socio-economic areas are unhealthier than inhabitants of high socio-economic areas, but some areas are an exception to this rule. These exceptions imply that other factors besides the socio-economic level of an area contribute to the health of the inhabitants of an area, e.g. environmental factors. In our study we concentrate on areas within the Netherlands that are healthier or unhealthier than could be expected based on their socio-economic level. This study first identifies these areas and secondly determines which area characteristics distinguish these areas from those areas where the level of health is in agreement with their socio-economic level. We used nation-wide data on neighbourhood differences in population composition (gender, age, marital status and ethnicity), urbanisation and two health indicators: mortality and hospitalisation rates. In the Netherlands, many areas are healthier or unhealthier than could be expected based on their income level alone. Areas with higher mortality rates than expected are mainly urban areas with high percentages of elderly people and persons living alone. Similar but opposite associations are observed for areas with lower mortality rates than expected, which are further characterised by a low percentage of non-western immigrants. Areas with lower hospitalisation rates than expected are mainly rural areas with few non-western immigrants. From these results, we conclude that urbanisation and residential segregation based on age, ethnicity and marital status might be important contributors to geographical health inequalities.
What works for whom?: a review of evidence and meta-analysis for the Department for Work and Pensions
- Authors:
- HASLUCK Chris, GREEN Anne E.
- Publisher:
- Corporate Document Services; Great Britain. Department for Work and Pensions
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 149p.
- Place of publication:
- Leeds
This report reviews the current stock of Department for Work and Pensions evaluation evidence in order to identify which interventions have worked most effectively for key customer groups: young people; long-term unemployed adults; older benefit claimants; lone parents; partners of benefit claimants; disabled people and people with health conditions; ethnic minorities; and the most disadvantaged. In addition to a detailed review for each of the customer groups covering contextual issues, type of provision, aspects of delivery and 'what works', a number of key findings of generic relevance emerged. Such issues include the diversity of the population of customers for whom provision is made and what they look for in interventions, the central role of the Personal Adviser in the success of interventions and the importance of motivation of the individual customer in the effectiveness of any form of provision. The importance of job search activity, of working with employers and the state of the labour markets and the nature of jobs available is highlighted also. The evidence presented in the review could be used to inform decisions about the appropriate type of provision to suit customers and local labour markets in a context of a more decentralised approach to the delivery of interventions.