我国养老保险制度改革下个人福利的评价

为了比较1997年起实施的统账结合制与原先的现收现付制对个人福利的影响,首先用叠代模型对上述两种制度的运行进行比较,然后根据具体数据对两种制度下的个人福利水平进行实证分析。结果表明,影响个人福利水平的因素有个人账户收益率、人口增长率以及由劳动生产率提高所导致的工资增长率;将现收现付制改为统账结合制实际上是对个人福利水平的降低。在现阶段的中国,随着劳动生产率的提高和城市化进程的加快,工资水平的上升和城市人口的增多,使得现收现付制的养老保险制度在城镇仍具有存续条件。结合国际经验,随着人口老龄化的加剧,在将来,积累制将成为较优选择,因此,现阶段需要对个人账户基金进行多元化投资以提高个人账户收益率,从而使居民福利得到改善。     

社会美及其后现代转向

社会美作为美的形态之一,作为中国美学的“特产”,曾经在中国美学界引发过激烈的讨论、研究与宣扬。然而,它在经历了半个多世纪的发展之后,却逐渐走向了停滞。不过,在进入新世纪之后,西方当代美学开始关注生活、社会和自然,开始将生活、艺术、社会、自然的界限抹平--它们开始提出所谓的“日常生活审美化”、“肯定美学”、“景观美学”--而这些实际上和中国现当代的社会美有着相同的时代诉求和审美立场。同时,伴随着后现代主义的进展,后现代美学思想的影响,社会美开始走向一种建设性的审美征途之中。它开始倡导一种自由、多元、和谐的审美观念,而这些实际上就是一种广义的生态美学观。     

Black‐market Medicine and Public Opinion Towards the Welfare State: Evidence from Israel

Based on a survey and interviews, this article presents and analyses Israeli public opinion toward black‐market medicine (BMM) and the welfare state. In addition to providing quantitative and qualitative evidence of the existence of under‐the‐table payments in Israel, we suggest various insights into this phenomenon. While most citizens admit that they would consider making under‐the‐table payments in order to receive preferential medical treatment, when the questions mention words such as ‘illegal’ or ‘bribe’, respondents tend to be less tolerant of such activities. We find that, first, there is a basic willingness among Israeli citizens to use BMM. Second, despite this predilection, Israeli citizens are reluctant to articulate their willingness to engage in such illegal activities. This reluctance implies the existence of a moral barrier among the population as far as identifying themselves with illegal behaviour is concerned. We may infer the existence of a gap between declared attitudes and behaviour. Third, the fact that people's willingness to engage in BMM is greater than their willingness to adopt black‐market strategies in other areas signifies the special nature of health care. Finally, by connecting the phenomenon of BMM to public opinion regarding the welfare state, we point to a possible gap between normative attitudes and preferences produced by structural conditions.     

Root and Branch Restructuring to Achieve Major Cuts: The Social Policy Programme of the 2010 UK Coalition Government

The 2010 Coalition has set itself the challenge of combining an unprecedentedly rapid and profound retrenchment with a fundamental restructuring of the public sector, both to be accomplished within five years. The immediate justification is a presumed need to reduce national indebtedness. The longer‐term goal is to shrink the state, free up the market and set British political economy on a new course. The programme has encountered a number of set‐backs and some elements appear more likely to be realized than others. This article considers the objectives of the Coalition programme and the likely outcomes, using evidence from a number of sources including comparisons with the experience of retrenchment elsewhere and analysis of previous rounds of public spending cut‐backs.     

基于SA8000完善中小企业员工福利的新途径——论企业社会工作的介入

随着市场经济的发展,企业间人才的竞争日益加剧,员工福利已悄然成为企业吸引、挽留人才的重要砝码,SA8000的出现又进一步强化了企业对员工福利管理的要求。构成我国经济发展基石的中小企业在员工福利管理方面存在问题,试图在SA8000的视野下运用企业社工的介入对我国中小企业员工福利管理的完善进行一番尝试。     

构建老人福利机构危险管理机制——日本经验之启示

"养儿防老"是中国传统的养老模式,长期以来老人的养老主要依靠子女来解决,但是随着生活方式的改变、家庭规模的日趋小型化,老人的长期照顾问题受到了社会的广泛关注。近年来国家制定了相关的政策、制度以及服务来满足老人及其家人的需求,然而老人福利机构及所提供的照顾服务,其服务质量离人性化照顾服务仍有一段距离。就现阶段而言,老人福利机构所提供照顾服务的质与量,均有提升与改善的空间。日本是亚洲第一个施行公共性长期照顾保险的国家,其施行之初也面临着一些与我国同样的问题,为提升长期照顾机构的服务质量,日本厚生劳动省在介护保险制度施行后的2002年,就开始倡导老人福利机构应建立危险管理机制的理念,并于2006年修订老人长期照顾福利机构管理规则,规定老人福利机构应建立危险管理机制,以提升照顾服务质量。有鉴于此,本文将对日本老人长期照顾福利机构建立危险管理机制的过程、基本架构,以及相关课题做系统说明,为我国老人福利机构经营管理提供参考,也可为我国未来在探讨老人长期照顾问题之际,提供必要的配套依据。     

Following Families: Working Lone‐Mother Families and their Children

Analysis of poverty dynamics based on large‐scale survey data shows that there is limited mobility across the income distribution for most individuals and families. This includes lone parents, who are one of the groups most likely to stay poor over time. This high income poverty risk is reduced for those lone parents who are in employment and who receive state financial support through tax credits to supplement their wages. But income security in work can be difficult to achieve. This article reports on longitudinal qualitative research which has involved repeat interviews with lone mothers and their children over a period of three to four years. The analysis explores the experiences of sustaining employment while living on a low, but complex, income and highlights the challenges faced in seeking financial security in this context.     

The Role of Non‐profit Organizations in the Mixed Economy of Welfare‐to‐Work in the UK and Australia

This article charts the development of welfare‐to‐work policies and compares and contrasts the traditions of delivery in the UK and Australia. We find that in the UK, employment services and social security benefit administration have been dominated by the central state, traditionally affording a key role to civil servants as direct delivery agents. However, in federal Australia, mixed economies of welfare‐to‐work operate in the different states, there is a far greater role for social services and non‐profit organizations are firmly established as key providers of frontline employment services. Since the late 1990s, UK welfare reforms have been gradually following the Australian lead in contracting non‐state actors as delivery agents. As this trend seems set to continue and intensify, we examine the Australian experience in order to reflect on the role of non‐profits in policy reform.     

Narrowing of Public Responsibility in Finland, 1990–2010

Public responsibility in Finland has narrowed in the last 20 years while the sphere of the private sector has been increased. The economic crisis of the early 1990s was not the cause, but an accelerator of public sector/welfare state retrenchment in Finland. Based on which, it was easy for the advocates of neo‐liberal reforms to argue that the changes were a must. The welfare state programmes however, are popular among the Finnish population and therefore large one‐time cutbacks have not been possible beyond the immediate aftermath of the economic crisis. This article looks into three different methods through which the Finnish welfare state has been gradually cut since then: (1) by not raising income transfers along with the rising cost of living and wages; (2) by reducing funding of public services; and, on the other side of the coin (3) through regular tax cuts contracting the revenue side. Welfare state retrenchment in Finland has therefore been achieved in a subtle fashion through slow gradual weakening of social programmes on one hand, and through cuts in revenue on the other that have left proportionally more in the hands of the wealthier. These combined movements have resulted in a drastic reversal in the trend in income inequality in Finland.     

Material hardship and depression among low‐income households in South Korea: Differences by household type

With the recent trend of growing poverty in South Korea, low‐income households, particularly elderly‐ and single‐headed households, are at high risk of experiencing material hardship and depression. However, less is known about the association between material hardship and depression by household type in Korea. Using data (N = 2,913) from the Korean Welfare Panel Study and employing several methodological approaches to address the omitted variables bias, this study examined: (i) the association between material hardship and depression among low‐income households, and (ii) whether the association differed by household type. We found that experiencing material hardship was associated with a higher likelihood of being depressed. In addition, we also found that the association between material hardship and depression differed by household type. The magnitude of the association was most pronounced in single‐ and elderly‐headed households. Policy implications to improve well‐being among low‐income households were discussed.