Abstracts

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Abstracts

     

Pflegebedürftigkeit im Lebensverlauf

The paper investigates levels of functional health in old age as an outcome determined by support from family members and the individual’s financial assets. It addresses the question to what extent these risk factors for functional health also apply to the risk of long-term care (LTC) as defined by German Law SGB XI and may thus be transferable. Three hypotheses are presented, relating the individual’s economic resources and social integration to functional health limitations and to the onset of LTC. Results are stratified by levels of care, taking into account changes in levels of care over time as well as the location of care (at home or in a nursing home). The analysis is based the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). For males it was shown that presence of close relative or spouse reduces the utilization of care (according to the LTC- definition by German Law (SGB XI). For males, long-term care was mostly provided by the spouse. The need of care depends not only on functional health status but also on the type of (family-)network. Substitution could not be found in the lower income groups. The utilization of LTC even increases for less affluent males living with a spouse due to financial incentives provided by LTC insurance. Substitutability of care services may thus vary by income group.     

Youth Civic Engagement in the Twenty‐First Century

We enter the 21st century contending with the end of the Cold War's legacy of political uncertainty, expecting youth to play a significant part in the search for new principles that will bring about stability in the world political order. In forging the future, youth will have to collaborate with adults, but on terms more fitting of the historical circumstances that lie ahead than those of the past. This was the framework adopted by a group of social scientists who held several discussions to reflect on the issues and opportunities that bear on youth's civic engagement and development in the century that has just opened. The present article describes the results of those conversations, starting with the issue of defining civic competence, and the finding that an expansive definition is needed to match the real‐world circumstances that affect its development for youth internationally. Specific conditions, such as globalization, information – communication technology, and immigration, are emphasized as forces that affect youth and need to be taken into account by educators and policy makers. In this regard, responsibilities of schools, government, the commercial sector, and community organizations are outlined. Each is viewed as a potential constructive force for promoting engagement insofar as youth's strengths are recognized and focus is placed on building on youth's proven capacities. As always, it is youth’s task to make history in the future and society's obligation to provide youth with sufficient resources and an honest basis for hope in carrying out this task. The authors' policy recommendations are founded on this reciprocal relation that binds the youth generation with its elders in the common task of preserving, while transforming, society for the good of humanity.     

Rebound effects of progress in information technology

Information technology (IT) is continuously making astounding progress in technical efficiency. The time, space, material and energy needed to provide a unit of IT service have decreased by three orders of magnitude since the first personal computer (PC) was sold. However, it seems difficult for society to translate IT’s efficiency progress into progress in terms of individual, organizational or socio-economic goals. In particular it seems to be difficult for individuals to work more efficiently, for organizations to be more productive and for the socio-economic system to be more sustainable by using increasingly efficient IT. This article provides empirical evidence and potential explanations for this problem. Many counterproductive effects of IT can be explained economically by rebound effects. Beyond that, we conclude that the technological determinism adopted by decision-makers is the main obstacle in translating IT’s progress into non-technical goals.