June 2018

16Jun

Population Aging and the Possibility of a Middle-Income Trap in Asia

By Joonkyung Ha (Hanyang University - Ansan Campus) & Sang-Hyop Lee (University of Hawaii - Department of Economics) We present three conditions for a demography-driven middle-income trap and show that many economies in East, South, and Southeast Asia satisfy all of them. The conditions are (1) support ratio—the ratio of workers to consumers—matters for economic growth, (2) economic development accompanies more investment in human capital and lower fertility due to the quantity–quality trade-off, and (3) current low level of fertility...

June 16, 2018
Aging, Articles, , ,
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10Jun

Inheritances and Inequality across and within Generations

By Andrew Hood & Robert Joyce Today’s elderly have much more wealth to bequeath than their predecessors, primarily as the result of rising homeownership rates and rising house prices. At the same time, today’s young adults will find it harder to accumulate wealth of their own than previous generations did, due to the sharp fall in homeownership, the dramatic decline of defined benefit pensions in the private sector and the stagnation in household incomes. Together, these trends mean inherited wealth is...

June 10, 2018
Aging, Books, Labor Market, Savings, ,
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10Jun

Why Are People Working Longer In The Netherlands?

By Adriaan Kalwij, Arie Kapteyn, Klaas de Vos Labor force participation at older ages has been rising in the Netherlands since the mid-nineteen-nineties. Reforms of the social security and pension systems have often been put forward as main explanations for this rise. However, participation rates above the normal retirement age of 65 have almost tripled for men and quadrupled for women despite the fact that at those ages reforms are unlikely to have had much impact. This suggests other factors...

June 10, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market,
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04Jun

Age Discrimination in European Employment Law: Problems and Potential Reforms

By Dáire McCormack-George (School of Law at Trinity College, Dublin) Irish employment equality law is driven by European Union policy. However, the law on age discrimination in employment is currently in a deeply worrying state. In this essay, I will make two arguments in relation to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the lawfulness of mandatory retirement ages. First, I will argue that the case law of the Court is, in the main,...

June 4, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, Regulation, ,
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May 2018

27May

Long-Run Trends in the Economic Activity of Older People in the UK

By James W. Banks (Institute for Fiscal Studies; University of Manchester), Carl Emmerson (Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)) & Gemma Tetlow (Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)) We document employment rates of older men and women in the UK over the last forty years. In both cases growth in employment since the mid 1990s has been stronger than for younger age groups. On average, older men are still less likely to be in work than they were in the mid 1970s...

May 27, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, ,
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21May

The Aging Population and the Competitiveness of Cities: Benefits to the Urban Economy

By Peter Karl Kresl,‎ Daniele Ietri While much of the current literature on the economic consequences of an aging population focuses on the negative aspects, this enlightening book argues that seniors can bring significant benefits – such as vitality and competitiveness – to an urban economy.The authors illustrate the ways an aging population can have a positive impact on urban centers, including the move by large numbers of seniors from the suburbs to the city, where their disproportionate consumption of...

May 21, 2018
Aging, Books, Labor Market
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21May

Population Aging: The Transformation of Societies

By Donald T. Rowland Population Aging: The Transformation of Societies presents an overview and international comparison of the causes, consequences and policy implications of one of the major processes of change in contemporary societies. It provides a foundation for understanding and reflecting on key demographic and social trends, together with related theoretical and policy frameworks that are important in explaining changes and designing informed responses. With particular reference to countries that have the oldest or largest aged populations, the book...

May 21, 2018
Aging, Books, System Sustainability,
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14May

As the World Ages: Rethinking a Demographic Crisis

By Kavita Sivaramakrishnan Sivaramakrishnan People are living longer, creating an unexpected boom in the elderly population. Longevity is increasing not only in wealthy countries but in developing nations as well. In response, many policy makers and scholars are preparing for a global crisis of aging. But for too long, Western experts have conceived of aging as a universal predicament—one that supposedly provokes the same welfare concerns in every context. In the twenty-first century, Kavita Sivaramakrishnan writes, we must embrace a...

May 14, 2018
Aging, Books, System Sustainability, ,
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07May

Poverty in Retirement: The Long-Term Impact of Rising Economic Inequality

By David W. Rasmussen (Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy) Income inequality is exacerbated by labor market trends that increase the demand for high skill occupations and those in low skill service occupations. This hollowing out of the middle of the income distribution means that an increasing portion of households will be less prepared for retirement as they approach age 65: they will have saved less, have diminished access to define benefit pension plans, and face smaller social security...

May 7, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market,
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April 2018

23Apr

Healthy Ageing: A Capability Approach to Inclusive Policy and Practice

By Christine Stephens &‎ Mary Breheny What does it mean to age well? This important new book redefines what ‘successful’ aging means, challenging the idea that physical health is the only criteria to gauge the aging process, and that an aging population is necessarily a burden upon society. Using Sen’s Capabilities Approach as a theoretical starting point Healthy Ageing: A Capability Approach to Inclusive Policy and Practice outlines a nuanced perspective that transcends the purely biomedical view, recognising ideas of resilience,...

April 23, 2018
Aging, Books, Labor Market,
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