Journal of Social Policy, 31(4), October 2002, pp.695-713.
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Place of publication:
Cambridge
This article examines social protection for older people in three middle-income countries: Argentina, Thailand and South Africa. It focuses on income support, health services and the provision of care, as well as considering the effects of these policies on social exclusion. The paper locates each country's different social protection programmes within a broader welfare regime model. It finds an interesting variety of approaches to pension and health provision, which range from generous universalism to minimal means-testing. However, it finds much less innovation in areas such as long-term care and intermediary services. The article challenges generalisations about old age social protection in developing countries, and argues that the different experiences of these three countries could provide useful lessons for social protection in many parts of the world.
This article examines social protection for older people in three middle-income countries: Argentina, Thailand and South Africa. It focuses on income support, health services and the provision of care, as well as considering the effects of these policies on social exclusion. The paper locates each country's different social protection programmes within a broader welfare regime model. It finds an interesting variety of approaches to pension and health provision, which range from generous universalism to minimal means-testing. However, it finds much less innovation in areas such as long-term care and intermediary services. The article challenges generalisations about old age social protection in developing countries, and argues that the different experiences of these three countries could provide useful lessons for social protection in many parts of the world.
Subject terms:
older people, policy formulation, privatisation, social exclusion, social policy, social welfare, social care provision, welfare state, benefits, comparative studies, developing countries, health care;
Joins micro-economic analysis of social insurance and welfare systems with broader political descriptions of social policy. Gives a sense of the fundamental problem of finding a social welfare system that fits specific economic and cultural conditions. Includes papers on: the Nordic welfare model and the European Union; convergence and divergence in the evolution of the welfare state; private provision of social security; the case for equivalent taxation of social security benefits in the European Union; an international analysis of retirement and economic development; disability and rehabilitation; unemployment insurance; social assistance in comparative perspective; lone mothers, policy and employment in twenty countries; Swedish single parents and social security; social security in Poland in a period of transition; social security reform in the Czech Republic; social security for disabled people in South Africa; China's social security in the context of the national distribution system; and integratability of social welfare systems for a unified Korea.
Joins micro-economic analysis of social insurance and welfare systems with broader political descriptions of social policy. Gives a sense of the fundamental problem of finding a social welfare system that fits specific economic and cultural conditions. Includes papers on: the Nordic welfare model and the European Union; convergence and divergence in the evolution of the welfare state; private provision of social security; the case for equivalent taxation of social security benefits in the European Union; an international analysis of retirement and economic development; disability and rehabilitation; unemployment insurance; social assistance in comparative perspective; lone mothers, policy and employment in twenty countries; Swedish single parents and social security; social security in Poland in a period of transition; social security reform in the Czech Republic; social security for disabled people in South Africa; China's social security in the context of the national distribution system; and integratability of social welfare systems for a unified Korea.
Subject terms:
insurance, labour market, older people, physical disabilities, private sector, rehabilitation, retirement, social welfare, single parent families, taxation, unemployment, welfare state, benefits, comparative studies;
Location(s):
China, Czech Republic, Europe, Poland, Sweden, South Africa, South Korea