论社会主义社会的中产阶级

本文认为,中产阶级在社会主义社会的产生和发展有其必然性;中产阶级的存在与壮大对社会主义社会有益无害;因此,社会应采取措施培育和发展中产阶级。     

略论养老所需的社会支持

我国已进入老龄化社会,养老是社会的一项基本功能,它关系到社会的良性运行和协调发展,而养老事业需要社会支持系统以提供社会资源。本文从社会支持和社会资源的角度对养老事业进行分析。     

我国社会养老保险一体化设计研究

本文针对当前我国各种养老保险制度并存、不同养老保险制度其筹资标准和待遇标准差异较大及社会养老保险基金投资运营收益率较低等问题,从养老保险模式、养老保险的筹资渠道和筹资标准及养老保险基金投资监管等方面就建立全国一体化的社会养老保险进行了制度设计。然后根据社会养老保险一体化设计方案建立计量模型就我国社会养老保险的替代率和支出水平进行了测算。通过对社会养老保险设一体化计方案的测算和分析可知,该设计方案符合我国国情。本文试图为我国政府制定全国统一的社会养老保险制度提供理论支撑和实证分析的依据,进而有效地解决我国因"未富先老"及人口老龄化逐步加深而对社会经济发展造成的负面影响。     

农民工社会养老保险局部推进制度设计研究

建立农民工社会保障将促进我国经济和社会协调互动发展。在分析影响农民工社会养老保险各因素的基础上,设计了符合当前我国农民工社会养老保险局部推进战略的制度模式。该模式建立了自动对农民工分层分类的机制,充分考虑了我国城镇职工基本养老保险的未来改革,在保证政府承担有限责任的基础上保护了农民工的权益并平衡了企业利益。     

我国现阶段社会养老保险的发展状况和问题及政策分析

社会养老保险制度是解决老年人经济保障的主要途径,但目前我国的社会养老保险制度还处于起步或初期发展的阶段,存在大量的现实问题。本文论述了我国社会养老保险发展的基本状况、我国老年人经济保障的基本状况、我国社会养老保险面临的主要问题,并提出建立和完善我国社会养老保险体系的对策思考。     

论城市低保群体的社会融合

本文主要探讨了我国转型期城市低保群体的社会融合问题,从社会和个人层面分析了城市低保群体产生社会疏离的原因,并就其社会融合的可行性路径问题从工作福利政策、技能培训、专业社会工作者介入、加强文化关怀、健全利益表达机制和促进增权等几个角度提出对策与建议。     

国外农民社会养老保险制度的发展及其启示

许多发达国家和部分发展中国家都为农民建立了社会养老保险保障制度 ,我国也在积极致力于这一制度的建设。本文在具体介绍德国、法国、加拿大的农民社会养老保险制度的背景、制度建设和发展以及具体政策和操作的基础上 ,着重探讨了对我国建立农村社会养老保险制度的借鉴意义     

各国社会医疗救助制度及其对建立我国城市贫困人口社会医疗救助的启示

社会医疗救助是医疗保障体系的重要组成部分。本文描述了新加坡、加拿大、英国和美国等国家社会医疗救助的特点,分析建立我国城市贫困人口社会医疗救助制度的意义,并对覆盖对象、资金来源以及保障项目与水平等作出思考。     

在社会管理新体制下充分发挥计生协组织协同功能的思考

党的十八大报告对我国社会管理的目标、定位、出发点、途径和措施作了明确而深刻的论述,提出要加快形成＂党委领导、政府负责、社会协同、公众参与、法治保障＂的社会管理体制,表明了中央对社会组织在加强和创新社会管理中协同功能的肯定和重视。中国计生协作为人口计生领域最大的社会组织,在过去30多年里,协助党和政府落实计划生育基本政策,推进群众生殖健康,发挥了不可替代的生力军作用。在构建社会管理新体制,以及人口计生工作深化改革的新时期,计生协面临着难得历史机遇,迎来新的发展契机,应承担更加重要、更为广泛的社会功能。     

计划生育对社会性别平等的促进效应分析

社会性别平等是庞大的系统工程,对我国的各项社会事业发展都提出了要求。作为重要的公共管理和服务领域,我国实行计划生育基本国策以来,人口计生工作的全面开展对推动社会性别平等的实现起到了积极作用,而且这一积极效应今后还将更加显现。     

精英移民——M型社会:当前中国社会结构困局解读

近年来,中国社会逐步呈现出了以白领、骨干和精英为主体的中产阶层群体,简称"白骨精"阶层,中产阶层的形成并且不断成长,势必形成"两头小,中间大"的"橄榄型"社会。"橄榄型"社会的基本特征是中产阶层的数量和规模比较大,上层和底层的数量相对较少。中产阶层是维系社会稳定的基础性力量,他们是沟通上层和底层的桥梁和纽带,是和谐社会的群众基础,是社会公平和正义的坚定维护者。但近几年的海外移民热潮,使中国社会的中产阶层人数还未壮大,就走海外移民或"下流"到中低收入阶层之路。此潮流如果任其发展,将会出现"M型"社会,"M型"社会是构建和谐社会的大敌。因此,限制既得利益集团的特权,珍爱中产阶层,努力使底层穷人上升到中产阶层群体是当前构建和谐社会的关节所在。     

Median Relative Partial Income Polarization Indices: Investigating Economic Polarization in Poland During the Years 2005–2015

In recent years, more and more attention has been focused on the effects of economic growth and inequality changes on income polarization, as well as on the changes in the middle income class fraction. A significant part of the literature that deals with these issues is focused on polarization indices. However, the polarization indices proposed by researchers do not allow for an assessment of impact of the income distribution changes on the disappearance of the middle income class. Moreover, the general income polarization indices do not allow for assessment of polarization within the distinguished income classes. This study proposes a class of median relative polarization partial indices, which allows for a comprehensive assessment of the median relative polarization over time, within the distinguished income classes, as well as the impact of income distribution changes (its polarization or convergence) on the change of the middle income class fraction (its disappearance or increase). Using Social Diagnosis panel data (a study carried out by the Social Monitoring Council), the proposed new tool has been used to verify the hypothesis of whether changes in the household income distribution in Poland during the years 2005–2015 have led to income polarization within the three distinguished income groups—lower, middle and upper income classes. Empirical analysis shows that despite the lack of overall polarization of incomes in the household population, there was a convergence of incomes in the upper and lower income classes and polarization of incomes within the middle income class. It implies that the income distribution has not been petrified, and as on average individuals in the lower and upper income classes tend to reduce the distance to the median income, whereas the members of the middle income class tend to be pushed out of the middle class. Moreover, the flows of households into the middle income class were higher than the outflows from this class, resulting in economic convergence, i.e. changes in income distribution leading to an increase of the middle income class fraction.

     

Economic Stress and the Great Recession in Ireland: Polarization,Individualization or ‘Middle Class Squeeze’?

Following an unprecedented boom, since 2008 Ireland has experienced a severe economic and labour market crisis. Considerable debate persists as to where the heaviest burden of the recession has fallen. Conventional measures of relative income poverty and inequality have a limited capacity to capture the impact of the recession in terms of social exclusion. This is exacerbated by a dramatic increase in the scale of debt problems including significant negative equity issues. Our analysis provides no evidence for individualization or class polarization of risk. Instead, while economic stress level is highly stratified in class terms in both boom and bust periods, the changing impact of class is highly contingent on life course stage. An income based classification showed that the affluent income class saw its advantage relative to the income poor class decline at the earliest stage of the life-course and remain stable across the rest of the life course. At the other end of the hierarchy, the income poor class experienced a relative improvement in their situation in the earlier life-course phase and no significant change at the later stages. For the remaining income classes, life-course stage was even more important. At the earliest stage the precarious class experienced some improvement in its situation while the outcomes for the middle classes remain unchanged. In the mid-life course the precarious and lower middle classes experienced disproportionate increases in their stress levels while at the later stage it is the combined middle classes that lost out. Additional effects over time relating to social class are restricted to the deteriorating situation of the petit bourgeoisie at the middle stage of the life-course. The pattern is clearly a good deal more complex than that suggested by conventional notions of ‘middle class squeeze’ and points to the distinctive challenges relating to welfare and taxation policy faced by governments in the Great Recession.     

On the absolute or relative basis of perception: The case for middle class identification

Previous studies of the relationship between social structural changes and individual-level perceptions have focused on perceptions of ‘well-being’. Those studies conclude that relative position in the social structure (e.g., more or less income compared to others) determines perceived ‘well-being’. In contrast to those studies, this research focuses on social structural changes and perceptions of middle class identification and concludes that absolute position in the social structure (e.g., a certain amount of income in itself) determines perceptions of middle class identification.     

Polarization or “Squeezed Middle” in the Great Recession?: A Comparative European Analysis of the Distribution of Economic Stress

This paper analyses variation in the impact of the Great Recession on economic stress across income classes for a range of advanced European countries. Our analysis shows Iceland, Ireland and Greece to be quite distinctive in terms of increases in their multidimensional income, material deprivation and economic stress profiles. Between 2008 and 2012 these countries moved from being predictably located within anticipated welfare regimes to becoming clear outliers. For this set of counties, each of which was exposed to different but severe forms of economic shock, trends in income class polarisation versus middle class squeeze were variable. Each exhibited substantial increases in levels of economic stress. However, changes in the pattern of income class differentiation were somewhat different. In Iceland a form of middle class squeeze was observed. For Ireland income class polarization did not exclude middle class squeeze. Greece came closest to fitting the polarization profile. Changes in the distribution of household equivalent income had no effect on stress levels once the impact of material deprivation was taken into account. Changes in levels of material deprivation played a significant role in accounting for changing stress levels but only for the three lowest income classes. These findings bring out the extent to which the impact of the Great Recession on the distribution of economic stress across classes varied even among the hardest-hit countries. They also serve to highlight the advantages of a multidimensional approach that goes beyond reliance on income in seeking to understand the impact of such shocks.     

Middle Class Society Still a Long Way Off

There is still a long way to go before the much-anticipated middle class becomes the mainstream in China, according to experts. Talk about China's middle class among research institutes and experts has been growing as the country's economic advancement gallops apace. According to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, there were 35.18million “middle class” members in China last year, about 2.8% of the total population. BNP Paribas, a French bank, defines members …     

Challenging the Black Church Narrative: Race,Class, and Homosexual Attitudes

In recent years, scholars have pointed to the Black church as the driving force behind Blacks’ more conservative lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) attitudes. Although evidence suggests a robust association between religiosity and LGBT attitudes, contemporary scholarship has not examined the role of class or the extent to which religiosity actually explains these trends. Using the 2004–2014 waves of the General Social Survey, we find that class moderates in the effect of race on negative LGBT attitudes, resulting in a noticeably larger gap between middle-class Blacks and Whites than in the top or the bottom of the class distribution. Although religiosity and moralization explain a portion of racial differences in homosexual attitudes across class groups, we find that neither fully accounts for the more conservative attitudes of the Black middle class. We conclude by discussing the shortcomings of these narratives for understanding Blacks’ more conservative LGBT attitudes.     

Analysis of Maslow's Need Hierarchy with three social class groups

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is often cited as a possible basis for a fuller understanding of the individual's needs, particularly with regard to Quality of Life. The reluctance to use these concepts is based primarily on lack of empirical evidence in this field. To rectify this situation, a new methodology based on Q sorting was developed to measure the individual's need importance for each of the five needs Maslow proposes. After an estimation of reliability, the test was administered to 240 adults, made up of three social groups, lower class, working class and middle class, balanced for age and sex. The results provided evidence that individuals of a similar social class share similar notions of which needs are most important to them, and these notions differ across social class. It appeared the majority of the middle class sample were esteem, self-actualization orientated, while the majority of the working class were esteem, belonging orientated. Conversely, the majority of the lower class sample were physiology and belonging orientated. However, a cluster analysis of the need items revealed that the items representative of a need were not necessarily assigned similar importance by any one group. It would appear that each need can not be viewed as a unitary whole of equal importance, but rather must be seen as a conglomerate. Methodologically, the article illustrates the feasibility of directly measuring need importance and the use of cluster analysis to group both need items and individuals. Further, the assessment of group differences allows a fuller understanding of needs and the importance the individual assigns to their satisfaction.     

The Census Bureau on Prospects for US Population Growth in the Twenty‐First Century

The U.S. Census Bureau periodically releases projections of the US resident population, detailed by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. The most recent of these, issued 13 January 2000, for the first time extend to the year 2100 and also include information on the foreign‐bom population. (Earlier projections were carried up to 2080.) The extensive tabulations presenting the new set, and detailed explanation of the methodology and the assumptions underlying the projections, are accessible at the Census Bureau's web site: http://www.census.gov . A brief summary of some of the main results of these projections is reproduced below from United States Department of Commerce News, Washington, DC 20230. (The Census Bureau is an agency of the Department of Commerce.) Uncertainties as to future trends in fertility, mortality, and net migration over a period of some 100 years are very great, as is illustrated by the massive difference in the projected size of the population for 2100 in the three variants produced. The “middle” projected population figure of 571 million (which represents a growth of some 109 percent over its current level) is bracketed by “lowest” and “highest” alternative projections of 283 million and 1.18 billion, respectively. With somewhat lesser force, the point also applies to the 50‐year time span considered in the well‐known country‐by‐country projections of the United Nations. These projections are also detailed in three variants: low, middle, and high. The UN projections (last revised in 1998) envisage less rapid growth in the United States during the first part of the twenty‐first century than do the Census Bureau's. The projected population figures for 2050 in the three variants (low, middle, and high) are as follows (in millions):

转型加速期门当户对婚姻的错位与危机--阶层封闭视角下离婚率上升的新解释

门当户对一直是人们缔结婚姻时遵循的隐形规则,是稳定婚姻的基础之一,其实质是一种阶层内婚姻,所体现的是阶层问的封闭性特征。社会转型的快速推进．我国划分社会阶层的标准／判定社会地位的标准从政治中轴向经济收入中轴的转变．使在原分层体系下门当户对的婚姻变得“门不当户不对”．因而也使原本稳定的婚姻基础变得不稳定,这在一定程度上加剧了当代中国社会的婚姻危机,而在此背景下的离婚率上升,又再次印证了“门当户对”的阶层内婚姻的稳定性和合理性。