The New Generational Contract

This authoritative text offers the first comprehensive analysis of intergenerational relations and social welfare. It examines both the micro-sociological relations within the family and the social contract which forms the backbone of the welfare state.; This book is intended to appeal to undergraduates and postgraduates in sociology, social policy and medicine and it will also be particularly useful for professional courses such as nursing, social work and gerontology.

This authoritative text offers the first comprehensive analysis of intergenerational relations and social welfare. It examines both the micro-sociological relations within the family and the social contract which forms the backbone of the welfare state.; This book is intended to appeal to undergraduates and postgraduates in sociology, social policy and medicine and it will also be particularly useful for professional courses such as nursing, social work and gerontology.

Generational conflict has attracted considerable attention in the media and within academic circles during the past decade. At the center of this collection of papers analyzing various facets of that conflict lie complex issues of generational equity--issues that will remain important for the framing of public policy during the 1990s, What do the young and the middle-aged owe the elderly? In discharging that debt, to what extent are they able to provide for their own old age in a climate of changing notions of welfare? What light do the longer perspectives of history shed on these issues? What role do kinship, gender, and economic status play? The papers commissioned by Bengtson and Achenbaum are intended to give greater analytic rigor to current debates. The volume is interdisciplinary not only by theoretical intent but by the practical imperatives of gerontology. More than a dozen sociologists, economists, historians, demographers, and policy analysts discuss the meanings and ambiguities that are inherent in terms such as "generation," "equity," "compact," "contract," and "conflict," in order to assess how relations between the age groups seem to vary from one sociohistorical context to the next. This distinguished group of contributors raises comparative issues throughout, assessing variations in generational ties by gender, race, class, and geographic location. Several project the extent to which recent changes in the political economy, public philosophy, and demographic structure of most "modern" societies presage greater conflicts, or greater consensus, in family members' relationships and social ties.

This groundbreaking book brings together perspectives from political philosophy and comparative social policy to discuss generational justice. Contributing new insights about the preconditions for designing sustainable, inclusive policies for all of society, the authors expose the possibilities of supporting egalitarian principles in an aging society through balanced generational welfare contracts.

Europe today is characterized by aging populations, changing family patterns, dropping fertility rates and mass migration. With the potentially massive ramifications this has for pensions, health, housing, transport, family relations, employment and other sectors of society, The New Generations of Europeans sets out to assess what it is to be a citizen of a growing EU and what important demographic, social, and economic issues will have to be faced by European decision makers. Edited by leading demographers and sociologists, and made up of contributions from respected researchers in the fields of population and society from different parts of Europe, it presents the results of five years of research by the European Observatory on the Social Situation, Demography and the Family. With the aid of over 100 graphs and tables and a full discussion, this book asks how numerous, fertile and long-lived the new generations of European citizens will be. The state of families, immigration and health are all examined, especially in the context of the challenges that will be faced in maintaining social cohesion. Crucially, the question of how demographic changes will impact Europe's socioeconomic infrastructure is woven throughout.

This exciting book explores the exchange of societal support between generations. It also examines variations in contemporary practices and rationales in different regions and societies around the world. The book draws on theoretical perspectives and empirical analysis to discuss both newly emerging patterns of family reciprocity, as well as more established ones which are affected by changing opportunities and pressures in contemporary societies. It is highly international and comparative in nature, covering the US, Europe, East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Thailand.

This upper level textbook provides a coherent introduction to the economic implications of individual and population ageing. Placing economic considerations into a wider social sciences context, this is ideal reading not only for advanced undergraduate and masters students in health economics and economics of ageing, but policy makers, professionals and practitioners in gerontology, sociology, health-related sciences, and social care. This volume introduces topics in the economics of happiness, quality of life, and well-being in later life. It also covers questions of inequality and poverty, intergenerational economics, and housing. Other areas described in this book include behavioural economics, political economy, and consumption in ageing societies.