Eurocentrism: a worldwide phenomenon with regional peculiarities

In this article I will heuristically remove the term Eurocentrism from its negative connotations. I describe Eurocentrism as a structure of, and for, cognition, whose constituent components of rational logic and objectivity continue to have validity for gaining scientific knowledge. Such a view of Eurocentrism starts with the origin of the phenomenon, not with its effects. Further, its driving forces can be detailed, as they ‐ until the present ‐ have been interpreted mostly phenomenologically and not analytically. Here, Eurocentrism shall be defined as a phenomenon that, across space and time, has become a productive force for the development of man and nature from the Enlightenment to the present day.     

Social security reform ideas in Japan

Japan has a complex social security system. This article discusses the demographic and economic situation in Japan as background for understanding the setting in which the social security system functions. Japan has a three-pillar system for retirement income. The first pillar is the social security pension plan; the second pillar is the voluntary occupational pension plan; and the third pillar is personal savings, including the personal pension plan. The most important part of the retirement income system is the social security pension plan, which paid benefits accounting for 64% of the total income of elderly households in 1998. The five Employees' Pension Plans are established on a compulsory social insurance basis. Most large Japanese employers have a mandatory retirement age. Over 90% of all employees, including public sector ones, must retire from their career jobs at age 60.     

Social security reform in Latin America: policy challenges

Over the last decade Latin American countries have served as the world's laboratory for pension systems based on individual retirement savings accounts. Some countries have adopted defined-contribution individual accounts as a replacement for state-run pension systems; other countries have embraced mixed systems of have made individual accounts optional and supplementary. This article outlines some of the most significant elements of recent Latin American pension reforms and examines some of the most serious policy challenges faced by governments implementing the new systems of individual accounts, including the need to reduce administrative costs, limit evasion, incorporate new categories of workers into the system, and improve competition in the pension fund industry. The authors conclude that there is no single Latin America model, and that reform itself has been and will continue to be an incremental process.     

Social security reform in the twenty-first century: the United States

The paper reviews the history of the Social Security system in the United States in the twentieth century and discusses options for the twenty-first. Because of the steady aging of the U.S. population and the impending retirement of the large baby boom cohort, the Social Security program now is in long-term actuarial deficit. The standard twentieth century approach to this actuarial deficit would be to raise payroll taxes enough to pay for anticipated future benefit increases, but for several reasons that approach may not be so popular this time around. The author's preferred approach is a gradual trimming of long-term benefit growth, plus "add on" individual accounts to provide new saving, for the economy and for the retirement system. The paper also criticizes proposals for Social Security reform made by President Clinton and a committee appointed by President Bush, generally because these proposals do not provide enough new saving.     

Social security reform: Does partial privatization make sense for China?

By the year 2025, one quarter of the world's population over age 60 will be living in China, a nation in the process of partially privatizing its social security system. This article presents a brief history of social security policy in China, describes the current scheme, presents an analysis of the pros and cons of this scheme, and asks why China is currently on the road to adopting policy changes that are so strongly influenced by the neoliberal social security model being advanced by the World Bank. Social security policy in China is being driven largely by demographic considerations, but it is also being influenced by factors linked to globalization. The plan to partially privatize the nation's social security system will put at risk many vulnerable categories of the population, particularly women, low-wage workers, those in the informal sector, and recent immigrants from rural areas.     

Social security in Africa: a brief review

Africa is the poorest region of the world and has the youngest and least developed social security programs. Most Africans are not covered by social security programs. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in some sub-Saharan countries and internal armed conflicts in others have created difficult problems in some countries for social security programs. As a result, some countries do not have functioning social security programs. The social security programs that do exist in Africa are influenced by their colonial heritage, with the programs in English-speaking Africa differing from those in French-speaking Africa. Six different patterns of social security provision can be identified.     

Social security in the Middle East: a brief review

The countries of the Middle East all have traditional social insurance type social security programs. The move towards defined contribution individual accounts that is occurring in some regions has not affected this region The social security programs in the Middle East are not facing the problems of financing found in Europe and North America, in part because they still have relatively high fertility rates and are thus little affected by population aging. They tend to have low retirement ages and some of the wealthy countries of the region provide very generous benefits. Many of them need to consider reforms that raise retirement ages. A characteristic of many of the social security old-age benefit programs of the region is that they exclude foreign workers, who in some countries account for more than half the workforce.     

Social security in Asia and the Pacific: a brief overview

In terms of numbers of people, the global challenges facing social security systems are largely Asian. Because of rapid population aging in Asia, while it accounted for 28% of the world's population aged 60 and older in 1985, that percentage will more than double to 58% in 2050. Provident funds are a prominent feature of retirement income systems in the region-Asia and the Pacific contain the majority of the world's countries with provident funds. These programs typically provide lump-sum benefits, and thus, do not provide annuity protection against outliving one's resources. Because of the influence of Confucian philosophy with its emphasis on family responsibility for elders, countries in the region have been relatively slow in developing social security programs. China does not have a social security program for workers who do not work for the government or in government-owned enterprises.     

Social Security reform: implications for women

Despite recent economic gains for women, a substantial gender gap in financial security during old age remains, making women more dependent than men upon Social Security. Social Security plays an important role in providing for women's economic security. The implications for women of several proposed changes in Social Security policy, including the call for the partial privatization of Social Security via the introduction of individual accounts, are analyzed. Many of the proposals would have the effect of asking women, particularly low-income women, to shoulder a disproportionate share of the risks and burdens associated with the changes.     

Domestic violence: a worldwide exploration

The concept of domestic violence is important to nursing because further knowledge of this phenomenon can help drive more effective intervention and prevention approaches. Domestic violence, also known as gender violence, interpersonal violence, and domestic abuse, is a daily and often a deadly fact of life for millions of women and girls around the world. Attacks are perpetrated in settings that include public streets, at places of employment, in the home, while serving in the military, and in prisons and jails. The costs of this violence, both monetary and in human lives, are tremendous. Although nurses are in a unique position to screen for domestic violence and provide assistance and advocacy for victims, barriers exist related to victim disclosure and staff training and comfort levels. Advanced practice nurses can address the issue directly through appropriate treatment facilitation, including both physical and psychosocial intervention.     

Social security and part-time employment

"The author examines social security provisions that constitute obstacles to part-time employment before considering a number of measures that could be taken to make the schemes more flexible and hence promote part-time employment both as a means of meeting the needs of many workers and as a form of work sharing that can help to combat unemployment." The geographical focus is on developed countries, with an emphasis on Europe.     

Social security as a prerequisite for a socio‐technological design

The author of this article advances the view that socio‐political concepts are prerequisites for an adequate elaboration of a technological design which is ecologically and socially sound. Two approaches are of particular relevance: namely, that of vocational training and that of increased employee participation in the decision‐making procedures of enterprises and organizations.     

Comparing Social Security reform options

Social Security is widely recognized as the nation's most effective anti-poverty program for the elderly and widow(er)s. It is so popular that it has often been dubbed the "third rail" of American politics ("touch it and you die"). As a result, changes have come slowly. For instance, in spite of years of warning in advance of the cash flow crisis of 1983, Congress waited until the last minute to act--and when it did, the action it took included a combination of tax increases and benefit reductions. By the mid-1990s, then-President Clinton was talking about the long-term financing issues faced by Social Security, but Congress did not act. President Bush has raised the same issues since 2000, and has now taken to the road to convince the nation that action should be taken now to assure the program's long-term solvency. Because Social Security is a sensitive, complicated, and emotional political topic, many concepts have been discussed but few elected officials have been willing to put forth detailed plans for fear of political backlash. The public, quite naturally, wants to know how they will be affected by "reform." In this introductory section, Figure S-1 seeks to provide a simple response to that question by following the method used in the Trustees' report, where earners maintain a constant percentage of the average wage. Take the year closest to when you were born, the earnings closest to your expected earnings this year (2005), and follow across the columns to see how much your annual benefit would be in today's dollars if you start taking benefits at age 65. For an example of a specific individual: Your 30-year-old child (born in 1975) makes a 2005 salary around $16,500. Under current law, your child's initial annual Social Security retirement benefit would be dollar 11,200 in today's dollars. However, given the projected funding shortfall currently facing the program, this promised benefit is not likely to materialize unless some sort of change is made to the program. This analysis compares "Model 2" from the President's 2001 Commission to Strengthen Social Security (which appears to have the principles for an individual account plan favored by the Bush administration) with three basic options: Current-law benefits with taxes raised to cover the shortfall over the 75-year actuarial period, by removing the existing dollar 90,000 annual wage cap and including all workers. Maintain current benefits until the revenue shortfall occurs, when a "cliff" benefit cut is imposed. A gradual reduction in current-law benefits.     

Social change in Mexico: re-politicizing the agenda of reform

A key claim of this article is the need for re-politicizing the processes of social change in Mexico, while critically examining economic imperatives as self-induced enforcement mechanisms. Focusing on the socio-political dimensions of the process, I undertake an analysis of the features of the democratization processes currently under way. It is emphasized that if the latter are to succeed, we need to be aware of the broad transformative effects which they entail. Therefore, the challenge for a more egalitarian and democratic society must be undertaken without delay. It is suggested that network governance could be of great help in drawing up a more democratic agenda, which may open up further possibilities of transformation.     

Social security and firm performance: The case of Vietnamese SMEs

This article investigates how social security provision – a key determinant of formality – impacts on small and medium‐sized firm performance in Viet Nam. Based on enterprise census data covering all registered firms from 2006 to 2011, the authors find that firms which increase their social security coverage by 10 per cent experience a revenue gain of 1.4–2.0 per cent per worker and a profit gain of up to 1.8 per cent, depending on the survival time of the firm. However, given the time lag between “investment” (in social security contributions) and returns (enhanced firm performance), specific policy measures such as initial social insurance subsidies for small firms could increase participation in mandatory schemes.     

Social construction of public relations knowledge by academic institutions worldwide: A bibliometric network analysis

This VOSviewer-enabled bibliometric study examines scientific knowledge construction in public relations research since 1955. A co-citation analysis indicates that while sustaining its cross-disciplinary nature, public relations increasingly relies on scholarship generated within its own discipline, with Public Relations Review, Journal of Public Relations Research and Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly most cited academic sources. A citation analysis of author affiliations revealed a number of findings, including universities with the highest count of publications, university pairs that tend to cite each other, as well as regional university groups and large clusters within a broader, citation-based network. Among the 108 most productive academic institutions from four continents included into the study, U.S.-based universities produced the highest number of publications in nine peer-reviewed journals. Cross-referencing citation relationships among university clusters in different world regions illustrates an ongoing pattern of globalized construction of public relations knowledge.     

Constructing deservingness: federal welfare reform,supplemental security income,and elderly immigrants

On August 22, 1996, President Clinton signed the welfare reform law that ended eligibility for all immigrants to federal means tested entitlements. Poor elderly immigrants on Supplemental Security Income were specifically targeted. This article documents how the print media responded to these policy changes. The following are the major research questions: (1) How were older immigrants on Supplemental Security Income portrayed in the print media before and after federal welfare reform? (2) Who was involved in the print media coverage of older immigrants on Supplemental Security Income before and after federal welfare reform? (3) What types of statements were made by those involved in the print media coverage of older immigrants on Supplemental Security Income, before and after federal welfare reform? The approach used was an in-depth content analysis of newspaper articles from major U.S. newspapers. The findings demonstrate that older immigrants were constructed as "undeserving" in news articles prior to the passage of the federal welfare reform bill. However, after the passage of the federal welfare reform bill the coverage of older immigrants on Supplemental Security Income started to change, and older immigrants were portrayed as "deserving." In advancing aging policy for poor, vulnerable elderly, such as elderly immigrants, advocates, health and social service providers can play an influential role in bringing their voices to the print media.     

Competing for seafaring labour: Social security and agency employment in Chinese shipping

This paper discusses one strategy that Chinese crewing agencies adopt to compete with each other in the global seafarer labour supplying market. This strategy is related to Chinese seafarers’ social insurance participation. It shows that crewing agencies utilised a dual workforce – ‘company-owned seafarers’ and ‘externally hired seafarers’. Externally hired seafarers, though in precarious employment, are offered higher salaries in place of social insurance coverage. By contrast, company-owned seafarers are paid less, though enjoy social insurance arranged by agencies. This strategy serves to segment the seafarer labour market, conceal the level playing field and help agencies recruit seafarers cost-effectively, though in violation of labour rights. This paper argues that this strategy grows out of the competitive landscape co-shaped by the national regulatory and institutional settings and the global structure of the shipping industry.