Population ageing and intergenerational transfers: challenges for social welfare policies

An unprecedented number of baby-boomers will enter retirement in the coming decades without adequate resources. The present study is to investigate the factors determining Subjective Wellbeing of baby-boomers. A national survey with a random sample which selected those born between 1955 and 1963 and maintained employment status. Herarchical regression analysis was used to examine the the suggested hypothetical model with mental health status, social relations, and the preparedness for retirement were significant predictors of subjective wellbeing of the baby-boomers in Korea. However, unlike the researcher's anticipation, health status, marital satisfaction and socio-demographics variables (gender, age, and education) showed a weak association (p>.05). The findings have important implications for how emotional stability and social activities should be maintained or developed for individuals who are reaching the retirement and ageing. A recommendation for a further study and policy implications were discussed.

Utilizing longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), this article examines the relationship between parental wealth and intergenerational income mobility for black and white families. I find that total parental wealth promotes upward mobility for low-income white families, but does not protect against downward mobility for white families from the top half of the income distribution. Conversely, I find that total parental wealth does not assist low-income black families while home ownership may have negative associations with the likelihood of upward mobility for these families. However, for black families from the top half of the income distribution home equity is protective against downward mobility suggesting a heterogeneous relationship between home ownership and mobility for black families.

In 2009-2011 UNFPA supported the Government of Saratov region in development of the regional strategy on ageing.
The Strategy intends to fill an essential gap in policy and services for older persons at the regional level in Russia. The Strategy sets concrete recommendations for supporting work force participation of older persons, promoting educational and training programmes for older persons, and facilitating their cultural and recreational engagement. The Strategy suggests a double-faceted approach to addressing the needs and expectations of older persons: the humanitarian needs of older persons and measures for including older persons into regional economic policy.
The Strategy is based on rusults the representative survey thus pursuing the evidence based approach to formulating policy options and avoiding an often prevailing opinion-based approach.
Significantly, that the Strategy development was based on wide participatory approach including policy makers, service providers, international and local experts, NGOs and elderly people. This approach is the key to success. The innovative approaches of the Strategy can make it valuable model for developing policy responses to the challenges and opportunities of population and individual ageing in Russia and other countries.

The aim is to "explain" the formal social service coverage in Spain. The following research questions are raised: how services meet the needs of older people -are there many who need help but do not get it?- and does that vary from one region to another?
Spain is the only Southern European country with extensive services for older persons, greatly expanded in recent decades but suffering from vast regional variations. We use Spain as an example to describe and analyse regional variation in services and care for elderly people. A strong regional autonomy can lead to large variations in the distribution of social services, which has turned out to be the case
within care of the elderly in Spain. This study analyses these variations and to what extent they respond to or reflect differences in social or physical needs. Cross-national individual data, regionally representative, and geographical information on macro factors such as public spending on services are analysed to map out the variations in old-age care, to study compensating factors in the care system, and to explore the connection with regional demographic and socioeconomic conditions. The main preliminary result is that social factors (living alone) rather than physical needs determine service use, and especially so when coverage rates are low.

This paper studies the link between the perception of raising child and saving rates of Chinese households. The high saving rate in China has recently received much attention. This paper proposes a possible explanation for the high saving rate among middle aged households in China – their old age support motive. Using a unique data set collected by survey teams in 11 provinces in China, we argue that the two possible drivers for the high saving rates are the lack of financial development and the declining reliability on children as old age support/insurance. An old age support perception index is created using our survey data. Using two stage regression analyses, we find divergent saving patterns between households with sons and daughters. Households with son(s) save significantly less than those with daughters. The saving rate further decreases if the parents have a strong expectation of receiving old age support from their grownup sons in the future. Using data on inter-generational transfers from the same survey, we further demonstrate that parents in regions with high perception index do receive more cash transfers from their grownup sons. Interesting, for families with daughters, the effect is negative.

Purpose: The migration of working-age adults from rural China altered traditional patterns of intergenerational support among elderly persons who remain in rural regions. This survey examines how intergenerational support influences on the trend of ADL of the rural elderly.
Methods: Data derived from a 3-wave longitudinal survey conducted from 2001 to 2006. The baseline survey, and two follow-up surveys were carried out with 1,634, 1,368, and 1,067 elderly in rural Anhui Province. This study employs Individual Growth Model to estimate the effect of intergenerational support on the trend of their ADL.
Results: The results show that receiving financial or instrumental support from adult children accelerates the descending rate of older parents' ADL, and providing intergenerational financial or instrumental support to adult children, and stronger emotional cohesion with children decelerate the descending rate of their ADL. Life Satisfaction and depression affect on their ADL. The study reveals the mechanisms of the effect linking intergenerational support to their health status with direct and indirect paths.
Conclusions: The results revealed intergenerational support based on demand of the elderly, under the condition of permission, the altruism behavior of the elderly could improve their physical health.

The population in China is rapidly aging. By 2040, the total number of the population aged 60 and older will reach 400 million.The aging population issue is not unique to China. However, we can’t find a model outside of China for how to deal with an aging population of this size. This will have a major impact on the economy and society. We need to develop solutions that meet current conditions and support the future demands of elderly care．
Before we make a plan for how to best support the elderly, we must be fully aware of the current situation and especially the difference between urban and rural areas.
Based on survey that supported by Grants-in-Aid from Japanese Government conducted in urban and rural areas of Beijing in 2012, we explored current living and consumption conditions of the population aged 50 and older.
This report is structured with the following contents. Section 1 describes the main demographic transition and population aging in China. Section 2 gives an analysis regarding the current life situation that focus on economic life, social security, and the consumption conditions that focus on the Products and Services for the elderly. Section 3 indicates the challenges for the Chinese aging population and how to find the right path. Section 4 derives a conclusion regarding demand and supply of silver industry.

What do we know about the Argentine Social Security (SS) system? How did SS coverage expand? How was/is SS financed? What levels of benefits are paid? What is the impact of demographic and labor market trends? Which are the challenges that future pension policies face in terms of sustainability?
Argentina is a paradigmatic case in the global context due to various aspects of its economic and social development, including setting up a SS system that was modified several times. Lately, a fully-funded component was introduced in 1994 and subsequently reversed to a pay-as-you-go scheme in 2008. After the 2001 crisis, the favorable fiscal position gave margin for policies that reversed the decline in coverage to unprecedented levels reaching over 90% of the elderly.
This paper analyzes the historical evolution, reviews the main demographic and SS changes, and provides updated data in terms of all the most relevant dimensions: scope, adequacy of benefits, funding sources, fiscal commitments, and potential perspectives.
Finally, an evaluation of the aging process and SS financing is carried out considering the ‘national transfer accounts’, based on applying age-specific patterns of current economic life-cycle to a scenario where all parameters are kept constant except for demographic prospects.

Background and Objectives: The study examined the socio-demographic correlates of: general health status of elderly persons (aged 60 and above) and fertility background of mothers of children aged 0-14 in Indonesia. Specifically, the focus was on the associations between the two components of age dependency ratios (old and young populations), fertility (total children ever born), gender, and wealth status. Discussion included a summary of studies on potential environmental degradation.
Methods: The primary data source for the study was the 2007/8 Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS), a longitudinal survey that collected a wealth of information at the individual, household, and community levels. The 2007/8 survey revisited previous IFLS baseline households (1993 IFLS). Two multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine associations with selected independent variables: Model 1 examined the likelihood of elderly people having any body pain (physical constraints) in the preceding six months and Model 2 examined the likelihood of girls/boys 0-14 years old having a mother with 3 or more children ever born. The independent variables for Model 1 were: gender, age, education, marital status and wealth index. For Model 2, they were: gender, mother’s age, mother’s education and wealth index

The aging population in Korea is very quickly increasing, which is unprecedented in human history. In order to know the impact of aging on the housing demand, therefore, we analyze the micro data of the Korean census. Focusing on the population aging, the results are the following: First, the homeownership rate by elderly households decreased from 78.1% in 1995 to 74.8% in 2010. Second, the living rate in multiple household, such as an apartment, increased. Moreover, the rate of elderly households under minimum housing standards rapidly decreased from 64.8% in 1995 to 15.3% in 2010.