Towards a policy for aging in India

India has been engaged in developing the National Policy for elderly for the last two decades. The efforts to establish a policy began building on traditional values, a small number of pre-independence enactments. Lawgivers of India spoke of the rights of the elderly and the responsibility of the state towards them almost 2000 years ago. Additional factors such as culture, social norms, and influence of international organizations, particularly the Vienna Plan of Action, have been responsible for shaping the Policy. The Plan of Action agreed upon at the end of the Vienna meeting could not come into being due to several reasons such as the size of the country and its federal structure. This article takes an overview of the efforts made by the federal government and the NGOs to create a National Policy. The article describes the process by which the National Policy came into being and provides an overview and critique of the present Policy. The author makes a summary of the major areas of action suggested by the Policy, the strategies designed, and the implementation roles of different Ministries. The author describes the steps taken since 1999 and provides the concluding remarks.     

Decentralization, aging policy, and the age of Clinton

This article examines the recent trends in decentralization and their implications for aging policy in the Clinton presidency. It first discusses a decade-long trend toward decentralizing policy and then examines some recent federal enactments that promote more discretion by state and local policymakers, suggesting that these may set the framework for aging policy during most of Clinton's first term. A basic premise of the discussion is, however, that the degree of flexibility varies with the policy area being analyzed-housing, transportation, health and social services--and whether these are "old" (pre-1980s) or "new" (post-1980s) policies. It concludes with the suggestion that a dual-centered, shared federal-state solution may provide the best approach to the premier issue in aging policy today-long-term care.     

Re-assembling climate change policy: Materialism,posthumanism, and the policy assemblage

National and international policy-makers have addressed threats to environmental sustainability from climate change and other environmental degradation for over 30 years. However, it is questionable whether current policies are socially, politically, economically, and scientifically capable of adequately resolving these threats to the planet and living organisms. In this paper we theorize and develop the concept of a “policy assemblage” from within a new materialist ontology, to interrogate critically four policy perspectives on climate change: “liberal environmentalism”; the United Nations policy statements on sustainable development; “green capitalism” (also known as “climate capitalism”) and finally “no-growth economics.” A materialist analysis of interactions between climate change and policies enables us to establish what each policy can do, what it ignores or omits, and consequently its adequacy to address environmental sustainability in the face of climate change. None, we conclude, is adequate or appropriate to address climate change successfully. We then use this conceptual tool to establish a “posthuman” policy on climate change. Humans, from this perspective, are part of the environment, not separate from or in opposition to it, but possess unique capacities that we suggest are now necessary to address climate change. This ontology supplies the starting point from which to establish sociologically a scientifically, socially, and politically adequate posthuman climate change policy. We offer suggestions for the constituent elements of such a policy.     

Child support guidelines: Economic theory and policy considerations

Federal legislation has mandated that all states develop numeric guidelines for child support awards in divorce and paternity suits. The purpose of this article is to review the theoretical models currently used in guidelines development and to present an analysis of issues pertinent to the development and use of guidelines. A familiarity with the principles underlying child support guidelines will assist family scientists who may be called upon to provide expertise on this public policy issue.Barbara R. Rowe is Family Resource Management Extension Specialist, College of Family Life, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-2949. Her research interests include the economics of divorce and at-home-income-generation. She received her Ph.D. from Oregon State University.     

应加大对中小企业的税收支持政策

中小企业在我国国民经济中占重要地位。然而与此极不适应的是,我国给小企业的税收优惠很少,部分地妨碍了中小企业的发展。笔者认为,我国当前税收优惠政策应从以下几个方面加强对中小企业的支持。1.实行有利于中小企业增加自有资金的优惠政策当前,我国中小企业由于直接融资渠道和间接融资渠道均受到极大的限制,企业融资困难,严重妨碍了企业的发展。在这种情况下,加强对我国中小企业内部融资的优惠和引导,对中小企业的发展意义重大。提高中小企业内部融资能力的途径有两种。第一,提高企业的内部积累。为此,在放宽对中小企业纳税人认定标准的基…     

Elders and the courts: judicial policy for an aging America

This article examines how trial courts should address complex issues of an aging society. More older people, living longer, will enter courthouses with underlying problems that will impede effective access and court processes and will require judges to enhance linkages with community health, mental health, and social services providers. The article analyzes how court systems perceive these issues and explores how they have begun to address them. It concludes with an argument in support of innovative new approaches to assist courts in responding to emerging issues of older adults.     

Family policy and critical science research: Facilitating change

The principles of critical science for policy research are outlined and one research project is used as a case study. The study was intentionally designed to facilitate changes that would positively influence the economic well-being of children from divorced families. The project uses the critical science processes of public dialogue about child support guidelines for purposes of collaborative problem solving. The normative theories of procedural and distributive justice are used to guide the research reporting. The project contributes to changes in the practices of estimating the income needs of children, changes in estimating the relative monetary contributions of their parents, and proposed legislation and modifications in the state child support guidelines. She received her Ph.D. in family ecology from Michigan State University. Her research interests include the valuing issues of family life quality, family decision making, divorce,and the economic adjustments of families to economic stressors. She received her M.A. degree in Family Education from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include decision making and parenting. She received her Ph.D. degree in anthropology from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include social and cultural change and the integration of research findings into public policy decision making.     

Environmental education evaluation: Time to reflect,time for change

Evaluation in environmental education is fairly nascent despite decades-long attention to its importance. In setting the context for future chapters appearing in this special issue of the Journal of Evaluation and Program Planning, attention is devoted to the political circumstances associated with retrenchment in the public sector and increased involvement of citizens in environmental issues in their regions. It further is nested in the context of potential political reforms in a stable market democracy where education is but one strategy that can be bundled with regulations and taxes/subsidies. Additional attention is directed to explaining many of the key evaluation theories – utilization-focused evaluation, evaluative capacity building, and program-theory driven evaluation. The final section of this chapter situates the subsequent chapters of this volume based on the demographic target (youth or adult) as well as connection to a particular evaluation theory.     

Taking guns from batterers: public support and policy implications

Federal law prohibits the purchase or possession of a firearm by persons convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence and those under certain domestic violence restraining orders. The purpose of this investigation is to examine public sentiment about the removal of firearms in the absence of a restraining order or misdemeanor conviction following domestic violence. An experimental vignette design was used in a telephone survey of a cross-sectional statewide sample of 522 community-residing adults in California. Study design and population weights were applied; the findings, thus, are a reasonable approximation for the population of California. In more than 3,500 vignettes, the abusive behavior was judged to be wrong, illegal, or should be illegal (98.7%, 73.1%, and 77.7%, respectively). Although only about one half (56.5%) of the scenarios were thought to merit the issuance of a restraining order, three fourths (77.4%) were thought to merit the removal of firearms. Multivariate analyses indicated greater support for firearms removal when the abuse involved sexual or physical abuse (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] ranged from 2.65 to 5.64) or a gun (AOR = 6.54). Men were the sole population group with significantly lower support for firearm removal following domestic violence (AOR = 0.39). The men who wanted firearms to remain did not differ from other men on any of the measured variables. In sum, there is substantial support, especially when a gun is displayed in a domestic violence incident, for policies requiring the removal of firearms from abusers.     

Employee participation and assessments of support for organizational policy changes

We examine the effects of participation, profit sharing, and participation program structure on managerial assessments of employee support for policy changes. Evidence suggests that managers perceived greater support from employees covered by participation or profit-sharing programs than from other employees. Findings also suggest that managers perceived greater support where a larger percentage of employees were involved in the participation program, where employees had input on a larger number of issues, and where employees had a greater amount of authority to implement their recommendations.     

Elusive public support for us child care policy

Most U.S. parents are in the paid labor force (US Department of Labor Statistics. (2014). Women in the labor force: A databook. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/cps/women-in-the-labor-force-a-databook-2014.pdf). Using a purposive non-probability sample (N?=?415) of primarily upper-middle class, married White Democratic women, this study explores support for government regulation, funding, and provision of child care and the factors and context that may shape their beliefs. Although some respondents held reservations about government involvement, over 80% indicated that government should play a role in regulating care for children in all age categories (0–3, 4–5, and 6–12). Eighty-nine percent supported some form of government financial support for child care, and 58% and 61% saw a role for provision of child care for children age 0–5 and 6–12, respectively. Both regression analyses and qualitative responses indicated that support for a government role in child care was influenced by parents’ own difficulties finding affordable and sufficiently comprehensive care, and the number of children they had. We provide recommendations for how best to target these groups of parents to support child care advocacy campaigns, tapping into their own struggles as a source of empathy for others as well as an impetus to shift toward a more universal notion of government support for child care.     

Coalitions on mental health and aging: lessons learned for policy and practice

Elders with mental health needs have been poorly served. Private and government agencies have given this issue a low priority, which is reflected in service delivery and funding. Coalitions have developed in states around the country and have engaged in a variety of tasks, including training techniques and collaborative efforts to advocate successfully for appropriate services. While accomplishments vary, the coalitions should continue their work, and others should organize in order to reach the goal of having accessible and appropriate elder mental health services.     

Caring for informal caregivers: policy approaches to the provision of direct support services

Despite being the backbone of modern welfare states, the informal care sector for elderly people in need of long-term care is highly dysfunctional. The majority of informal caregivers are overburdened on account of their care-related activities, although an evolving market for support services directly aimed at relieving informal caregivers is observable. In this paper, we examine the reasons for the imperfect exchange between demand and supply in this market, applying the economic theory of market failure. Through a case study of Austria based on an empirical, qualitative survey of all direct support services and their suppliers on the national level as well as in three provinces, an understanding of this market's main players and mechanisms is derived. Thus, the authors determine that three different system types can be identified beyond the historical regional discrepancies. They illustrate the approaches to service provision for informal caregivers: centralized and public, laissez-faire and private, and a radically decentralized network for informal caregivers. Still, lack of information, social and psychological barriers, as well as high transaction costs, are identified which undermine the support service market for informal care. If the costs of the formal long-term care sector are to be contained despite demographic developments, better policy approaches will be necessary to overcome this challenge. In light of this, recommendations are derived to ensure a better exchange between supply and demand. By providing an initial empirical understanding and analysis of this market and its imperfections, the authors pioneer future quantitative research in this field.