Government Entitlements

This book explores the family allowance phenomenon from the idea's debut in the House of Commons in 1929 to the program's demise as a universal program under the Mulroney government in 1992. Although successive federal governments remained committed to its underlying principle of universality, party politics, bureaucracy, federal-provincial wrangling, and the shifting priorities of citizens eroded the rights-based approach to social security and replaced it with one based on need. In tracing the evolution of one social security program within a national perspective, From Rights to Needs sheds new light on how Canada's welfare state and social policy has been transformed over the past half century.

Huge issues confront America today: among them health care, poverty, and the place of religion in government. with the nation on the brink of changes, it's more important than ever before for students to understand what led to these problems and why people in power disagree about what caused them and, therefore, how to solve them. More important, the books in Controversy! give students a way to use critical thinking to create informed opinions on where they stand on these issues, and may help them become part of the solution.

“Keep your government hands off my Medicare!” Such comments spotlight a central question animating Suzanne Mettler’s provocative and timely book: why are many Americans unaware of government social benefits and so hostile to them in principle, even though they receive them? The Obama administration has been roundly criticized for its inability to convey how much it has accomplished for ordinary citizens. Mettler argues that this difficulty is not merely a failure of communication; rather it is endemic to the formidable presence of the “submerged state.” In recent decades, federal policymakers have increasingly shunned the outright disbursing of benefits to individuals and families and favored instead less visible and more indirect incentives and subsidies, from tax breaks to payments for services to private companies. These submerged policies, Mettler shows, obscure the role of government and exaggerate that of the market. As a result, citizens are unaware not only of the benefits they receive, but of the massive advantages given to powerful interests, such as insurance companies and the financial industry. Neither do they realize that the policies of the submerged state shower their largest benefits on the most affluent Americans, exacerbating inequality. Mettler analyzes three Obama reforms—student aid, tax relief, and health care—to reveal the submerged state and its consequences, demonstrating how structurally difficult it is to enact policy reforms and even to obtain public recognition for achieving them. She concludes with recommendations for reform to help make hidden policies more visible and governance more comprehensible to all Americans. The sad truth is that many American citizens do not know how major social programs work—or even whether they benefit from them. Suzanne Mettler’s important new book will bring government policies back to the surface and encourage citizens to reclaim their voice in the political process.

The U.S. population is aging. Social Security projections suggest that between 2013 and 2050, the population aged 65 and over will almost double, from 45 million to 86 million. One key driver of population aging is ongoing increases in life expectancy. Average U.S. life expectancy was 67 years for males and 73 years for females five decades ago; the averages are now 76 and 81, respectively. It has long been the case that better-educated, higher-income people enjoy longer life expectancies than less-educated, lower-income people. The causes include early life conditions, behavioral factors (such as nutrition, exercise, and smoking behaviors), stress, and access to health care services, all of which can vary across education and income. Our major entitlement programs - Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Supplemental Security Income - have come to deliver disproportionately larger lifetime benefits to higher-income people because, on average, they are increasingly collecting those benefits over more years than others. This report studies the impact the growing gap in life expectancy has on the present value of lifetime benefits that people with higher or lower earnings will receive from major entitlement programs. The analysis presented in The Growing Gap in Life Expectancy by Income goes beyond an examination of the existing literature by providing the first comprehensive estimates of how lifetime benefits are affected by the changing distribution of life expectancy. The report also explores, from a lifetime benefit perspective, how the growing gap in longevity affects traditional policy analyses of reforms to the nation's leading entitlement programs. This in-depth analysis of the economic impacts of the longevity gap will inform debate and assist decision makers, economists, and researchers.

An "owner's manual" for every Canadian with a pension plan. Millions of Canadians are covered by pension plans in one form or another-whether that's CPP or a company plan, or personal RRSPs. But pensions are the benefit least understood by employees. They're confusing and complex, but understanding pensions is crucial to every Canadian's financial security in retirement. Since its initial publication, The Pension Puzzle has become the definitive book on the subject. Now completely revised and updated, The Pension Puzzle remains a true owner's manual for anyone with a pension plan. The Pension Puzzle is not just for those about to retire. It's for every working Canadian who needs to make decisions about their pension plan and how it affects their financial future.

You don't have to be a Chartered Professional Accountant or have a Master's degree in Business Administration to find the best financing for your business or organization and enjoy the benefits of the variety of the funding options provided by the Canadian financial sector. But how can you make sure that you have enough money to grow your business or organization if you are confused? Canada offers so many options that anyone outside the financial sector may be either unaware of them or may be really confused. That's the problem! The purpose of this book is to help Canadian business owners, senior executives and employees put their thoughts and processes together and submit successful applications for funding, including government grants and loans, bank, private and non-traditional financing. This book is based on the author's and contributors' years of experience successfully getting financing for Canadian businesses and non-profit organizations.