Policy Change and the Politics of Ideas: The Emergence of the Canada/Quebec Pension Plans

Insistant sur l'impact direct des idées sur le changement politique, les auteurs se penchent sur l'adoption du Régime de rentes du Québec (RRQ) et du Régime de pensions du Canada (RPC) de 1965, en examinant deux questions étroitement liées: 1) Pourquoi le gouvernement fédéral a‐t‐il décidé de créer au milieu des années 1960 un système public de pension proportionnel aux revenus, en plus du Programme de la sécurité de la vieillesse alors en vigueur? et 2) Pourquoi ce nouveau système présente‐t‐il un taux de remplacement plus élevé que celui proposé initialement, de même qu'un régime différent pour le Québec? De manière à répondre à ces deux questions, les auteurs analysent les débats menant à l'adoption du RRQ et du RPC. Stressing the direct impact of ideas on policy change, this article explores the adoption of the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans (C/QPP) in 1965 by addressing two closely related questions: in the mid‐1960s: why did the federal government decide to create an earnings‐related public pension system on top of the existing Old Age Security program? Second, why did that new system feature a replacement rate higher than initially proposed as well as a separate scheme for the province of Quebec? In order to answer these two questions, the article analyzes the debates leading to the enactment of the C/QPP.     

Changes in Firm Pension Policy: Trends Away from Traditional Defined Benefit Plans

In light of the recent concerns regarding the solvency of Social Security’s Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI), private pensions may play an increasingly important role in retirement welfare of US retirees. However, the private pension landscape has evolved in ways that may result in lower private pension wealth for retirees. One recent such phenomenon involves the conversion of traditional defined benefit pension plans to cash balance plans, which results in lower pension benefits for many workers. In this study, I investigated how characteristics of the firm’s workforce influenced whether the firm converted their traditional pension plan to a cash balance plan and how these characteristics related to the firm’s pension plan policy more generally. Using the Longitudinal Employer-Household Data and pension plan data from the Department of Labor/Internal Revenue Service and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, I found little evidence of workforce age distribution effects on the likelihood of DB plan conversion to a cash balance plan in the 1990s. More generally, I consistently found positive associations between firms with older and more female workforces and defined contribution plans during the same time.     

Community Effects on Welfare Participation

This paper conceptualizes and estimates a model of welfare participation that tests for community effects. Theoretically, the model is consistent with Fischer's (1984) notion of urban life, and a welfare participation model developed by Rank and Hirschl (1993). The empirical analysis includes aggregate and multivariate tests, and an identification of these effects in terms of household knowledge and behavior. We find strong evidence that community structure influences the decision to get food stamps, and one notable difference with the Rank and Hirschl findings: community poverty level is a more powerful and global predictor of participation than is population density. The findings suggest emendations to Wilson's notion of the truly disadvantaged insofar as residence in high poverty areas afford opportunities for information exchange and the development of specialized networks.     

Effects of Welfare Participation on Marriage

We investigate the widely held premise that welfare participation causes women to refrain from marriage. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study (N = 3,219), we employ an event history approach to study transitions to marriage among mothers who have had a non-marital birth. We find that welfare participation reduces the likelihood of transitioning to marriage (hazard ratio is .67, p < .01), but only while the mother is receiving benefits. Once the mother leaves welfare, past receipt has little effect on marriage. We infer that the negative association between welfare participation and subsequent marriage reflects temporary economic disincentives rather than an erosion of values.     

The Effects of Parenthood on Workforce Participation and Income for Men and Women

This paper examined the effects of parenthood on workforce participation for men and women in the Christchurch Health and Development Study, a 30-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1,265 individuals born in New Zealand in 1977. The findings suggested that the effects of parenthood on workforce participation were different for men and women. For women, parenthood was associated with decreasing participation in paid employment and fewer hours worked. For men, however, parenthood was not associated with decreased workforce participation and in some cases was associated with increased working hours. These findings had consequences for personal income, with 83–90 % of the total gender income gap in this cohort being attributed to gender differences in the effects of parenthood. These findings suggest that parenthood has markedly different effects on workforce participation and income for men and women.     

Individual Pension Plans in Spain: How Expected Change in Future Income and Liquidity Constraints Shape the Behavior of Households

Understanding the motives that underlie Spaniards’ retirement saving decisions is important because many, if not most, future retirees will need to rely on personal savings to maintain a decent standard of living. The governor of the Bank of Spain has stated recently that the current public pension system will not guarantee an adequate pension to the citizens, advising to save now for retirement. In this debate on public pensions, and the complementary role that private pensions might play in Spain, this article has shed light on the decision of Spanish households to engage in individual pension plans and it has identified which factors determine the total amount saved in such retirement plans. Using micro data from the Bank of Spain (Survey of Household Finances 2011), the analysis has revealed that the expectations of lower future income, along with preferences for the financial risk and education, exert an important influence on the likelihood of enrolling in a private pension plan. University education minimizes the myopic behavior of households in the sense of making them more forward-looking and cautious in the face of their future well-being. Additionally using Heckman’s methodology to correct for the problem of selection bias, our results have revealed that liquidity constraints affect negatively the total amount of money saved for retirement.     

The Effects of Homeownership on Civic Participation among Immigrant Farmworkers in Washington State

Homeownership is generally considered to have positive benefits for families and communities. However, the collapse of the housing market in 2009 led to questions about this assumption, especially for low‐skilled workers whose employment is volatile. This question is particularly relevant to the farmworker population in rural communities for whom homeownership might function as the first step in the path toward social integration. In this study I ask whether homeownership impacts immigrant adaptation among farmworkers in Washington State. To answer this question researchers analyzed 2,845 responses from the Washington State Farm Worker Survey. I divided the sample into renters and homeowners and evaluated behaviors and attitudes along three dimensions: perceptions of community efficacy, civic engagement, and motivations for civic engagement. I found that when compared with those who rent, farmworkers who are homeowners tend to have a greater sense of community efficacy, are more engaged in their communities, and are more motivated to get involved in local affairs. These findings suggest that homeownership can function as a vehicle for immigrant adaptation among Washington State farmworkers. This bodes well for the future of the state's rural areas, where Latinos are increasingly becoming the majority in many agricultural communities.     

Supplemental Retirement Savings Plans in the Public Sector: Participation and Contribution Decisions by School Personnel

Virtually all full-time state and local government employees are covered by a retirement plan, typically a defined benefit plan, in which they are required to participate. In addition, most school employees have the option of choosing to contribute to a voluntary retirement savings plan offered by their school district. Relative to private sector workers, public employees face an expanded choice of retirement savings plans. Federal tax policies allow state and local governments the opportunity to offer both 401(k) plans and 457 plans to their employees. In addition to these plans, public schools and certain other organizations can offer 403(b) plans to their employees. This paper examines the decision to participate in a voluntary savings plan and the level of contributions for those that enroll in at least one of the plans. The analysis begins by describing the savings options available to public school employees and how these plans differ. The findings indicate that the same economic and demographic factors that influence saving decisions by private workers also drive the decisions of school employees. The three savings plans offered to public employees have many similar characteristics; however, several differences in the plans imply that certain workers may prefer one plan type over the others. Probit and Tobit models of participation in any plan and total annual contributions are estimated. Finally, we estimate the determinants of the decision to choose any one or a combination of savings plans.     

The Effects of ROTC Program Participation on Socioeconomic Status and Life Satisfaction*

Using mail survey data based on a stratified systematic sample [N = 686] of 1983–1988 graduates of a medium-sized state university, this research evaluates whether ROTC program participation constitutes an independent source of human capital in civilian labor markets by comparing postgraduate earnings (annual income), prestige and authority, and life satisfaction of ROTC program participants with those of nonparticipants. The results revealed no statistically significant ROTC program participation effects, independent of subsequent military status. ROTC program participation paid off in terms of occupational prestige and authority for those on active duty, but not for those in national guard or reserve units. Neither ROTC participation nor current military status affected income or life satisfaction levels.     

The Pension Reform Process in France

The French old age security system was constructed progressively following the end of the Second World War in response to the pressing problem of old age poverty. In 1945 less than 40% of old people (4.5 million in total) had a pension. This was despite the existence of some pension systems dating back to the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. Monetary depreciation also meant that the pensions of those who enjoyed such benefits were very low. Historical factors explain the current pension system's organization and institutional division favouring pay-as-you-go schemes. While the French pension system has been largely successful in eliminating old age poverty, it today faces new challenges and constraints that make reform necessary. The debate as how best to reform the pension system is a long and winding one. Change is slow and incremental. Ideological, social and cultural factors and their interrelations help explain the difficulties in effecting reforms.     

WELFARE AND CITIZENSHIP: The Effects of Government Assistance on Young Adults' Civic Participation

Recent scholarship and public discourse highlight an apparent waning of civic engagement in the United States. Although the welfare state is generally thought to support democracy by reducing economic inequality, it may paradoxically contribute to political disempowerment of some groups. We examine the effects of state interventions on civic participation among young adults, hypothesizing that involvement with stigmatizing social programs, such as welfare, reduces political engagement, while receipt of nonstigmatizing government assistance does not dampen civic involvement. Using official voting records and survey data from the Youth Development Study (YDS), a longitudinal community sample of young adults, a series of regression models suggests that welfare recipients are less likely to vote than nonrecipients, whereas recipients of non-means-tested government assistance participate similarly to young adults who do not receive government help. These effects hold even when background factors, self-efficacy, and prior voting behavior are controlled. Welfare receipt is not associated, however, with suppressed participation in nonstate arenas such as volunteer work. Intensive interviews with YDS welfare recipients are used to illustrate and develop the analysis.     

新时代我国智慧养老服务创新发展研究

智慧养老服务是我国应对人口老龄化的重要举措,对于养老服务高质高效发展具有重要意义。基于对城市养老服务实践过程中形成的多元化智慧养老服务模式及智慧养老服务面临的现实困境的分析,笔者从强化智慧养老服务规划设计、完善智慧养老服务参与主体职责和保障措施、丰富智慧养老服务内容、提高智慧养老服务产品质量以及加强智慧养老服务人才培养5个方面阐释了新时代我国智慧养老服务创新发展的策略。     

Effects of Personality and Gender on Fantasy Sports Game Participation: The Moderating Role of Perceived Knowledge

Although 30 million individuals are engaged in fantasy sports games in the United States, little is known about the personality, attitudes, and intentions of fantasy sports game participants. This study (N = 244) explored the role of gender, sensation seeking (SS), locus of control (LOC), and need for cognition (NFC) in predicting attitudes and intentions relative to participating in fantasy football league. A domain-specific construct (e.g., perceived football knowledge: PK) was employed as a moderator to control the potential attenuating effects of personality and related human behavior. A moderated multiple regression technique (MMR) examined the first-order and lower-order interaction effects on attitudes and behavioral intentions toward fantasy games. For males (n = 123), SS, LOC, and PK were related to both attitudes and intentions toward participating and PK acted as a moderator between LOC and intentions. For females (n = 121), none of the personality traits was associated with attitudes or intentions. The applied and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed along with future directions for research.     

Pension Reforms,Working Patterns and Gender Pension Gaps in Europe

European pension reforms are dominated by the principles of privatization and individualization. Privatizing and individualizing pension entitlements call for a redefinition of the responsibilities of states and individuals. Moreover, statutorily introducing individualization calls for equal opportunities to be guaranteed. However, the implementation of equal opportunities is a long way off because pension‐determining factors are still subject to gender distinctions, among other things. Gender distinction is inherent in life courses as well as in welfare arrangements. Welfare arrangements determine the legitimate reasons for gaining pension rights, how the measures of different entitlements are interrelated and which factors hamper a person's ability to fulfil the pension norm. This article analyses the link between welfare arrangements and women's life courses for a better understanding of the gendered norms of pension entitlements by focusing on gendered wages and life expectancies, gendered working patterns, and the connection between care and pensions.     

Family Influences on the Social Participation of Youth: The Effects of Parental Social Involvement and Farming

Abstract Parents shape children's social choices through their social and economic actions. Parental social participation connects children to a civic culture and encourages involvement in civic groups. Parents' ties to farming in farm‐dependent communities further enhance children's civic orientations by providing added opportunities and incentives for social participation. Data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project confirm these hypotheses, showing that the children of farmers and of rural leaders are more likely to participate in civic groups. These results establish parental social involvement as a source of social capital and demonstrate the importance of farm influences for understanding the social involvement of youth in rural society.     

The Influence of Religiosity on Gambling Participation

Gambling is now a popular legal activity among people around the world. Despite numerous studies on individuals’ gambling behavior, few researchers examine the influence of religiosity on gambling participation. This study investigated the effect of religiosity, measured in terms of frequency of religious participation and importance of faith, on gambling participation across four different types of games: casino, track, lottery, and bingo. Using data collected by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission in 1999, the study found that there was indeed a significant difference in the frequency of religious participation between gamblers and non-gamblers. Moreover, it seemed like the more types of games one played, the lower was their frequency of religious participation. The importance of faith, however, did not seem to have a significant impact on gambling participation. The implications of these findings to businesses and public policy makers were discussed.     

International Migration and Religious Participation: The Mediating Impact of Individual and Contextual Effects1

Supported by previous empirical work, theory from sociology of religion and migration provide testable hypotheses in predicting changes in immigrant religious participation surrounding the migratory event. Due to data constraints, however, these hypotheses have escaped broad‐based analysis. Using the New Immigrant Survey (NIS), religious participation from pre‐ to postmigration time periods is found to decrease among recent immigrants to the United States. Individual‐level characteristics (i.e., gender, familial conditions, employment) do not substantially explain this decline; alternatively, contextual‐level factors (i.e., religious pluralism and religious concentration) partially mediate this drop in immigrant religiosity.     

Build Your Own Pension: Framing Pension Reform and Choice in Newspapers

Recent pension reforms in Norway mean that old-age pensions to a greater extent are a function of adaptations made and decisions made throughout the lifetime. How much you work, who you work for, when you retire, and how you invest will influence your standard of living as an old-age pensioner. This article investigates one important source of information about retirement and pension, namely service journalism in main national newspapers. How is the issue of pension framed in these articles? And what kind of advice is presented by which kind of actors? Findings indicate that service journalism is dominated by pension industry sources, and old-age pension is framed as a function of individual investment choices rather than as citizens’ rights.     

The Effects of Previous and Current Instrumental Involvement and Expressive Involvement on Online Political Participation among Chinese College Students

This study compares the effect of different types of previous and current memberships on college students’ online political participation in contemporary China using survey method and in‐depth interviews. We find that it is previous instrumental involvement, not expressive participation in high school that is significantly and positively associated with online political participation. Meanwhile, college instrumental involvement exerts no effect on online political participation, and college expressive involvement is negatively associated with youth online expressive participation. Previous instrumental involvement stimulates subsequent political engagement by exposing members to subsequent political mobilization. Instrumental associations do not act as schools of democracy in which members foster political interest or boost generalized trust, but significantly increase members’ chances to be asked to take part in politics years later. The results from the in‐depth interviews regarding the differences in participatory environments between high school and college can be used to explain why instrumental involvement in high school but not college stimulates subsequent political engagement.     

Trends in Employee Wage and Health Insurance Compensation for Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance (ESI) Coverage

Health insurance coverage continues to be an important benefit of employment and employer-sponsored insurance is the most prominent form of health coverage in the US. We examine trends in both employer and employee contributions to the costs of health insurance premium between 2002 and 2005 and assess these contributions relative to changes in worker wages. We do this for the US overall and for the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. We found a significant increase of 15.5% in the share of total compensation going toward health benefits (from 12.3–14.2%) for workers with individual coverage and an increase of 13.5% (from 20.6–23.4%) for workers with family coverage. Wages over this time period decreased 3.0% for workers with individual coverage and increased 0.8% for workers with family coverage.