The Present Retirement Crisis and How Social Workers Can Respond

ABSTRACT

Research on Americans’ retirement readiness indicates a wide range of preparedness for the golden years. Called a “crisis” by researchers, retirement for some may include significant choices: continued employment or utilization of social welfare services. This article describes factors contributing to the retirement crisis and roles social workers can play in assisting older retirees. Disparity in household retirement savings exists by ethnicity. On the front lines serving aging individuals and their families, social work professionals are well situated to collaborate with individuals, and other providers, to address financial, social and emotional pillars necessary in facilitating a safe and secure retirement.     

Falling through the social safety net? Analysing non-take-up of minimum income benefit and monetary social assistance in Austria

Non-take-up of means tested benefits is a widespread phenomenon in European welfare states. The paper assesses whether the reform that replaced the monetary social assistance benefit by the minimum income benefit in Austria in 2010/11 has succeeded in increasing take up rates. We use EU-SILC register data together with the tax-benefit microsimulation model EUROMOD/SORESI. The results show that the reform led to a significant decrease of non-take-up from 53 to 30% in terms of the number of households and from 51 to 30% in terms of expenditure. Following the three-t's (threshold, trigger, and trade-off) introduced by Van Oorschot, estimates of a two-stage Heckman selection model as well as expert interviews indicate that the taken measures include both threshold and trade-off characteristics. Elements such as the higher degree of anonymity within the claiming process, the provision of health insurance, binding minimum standards, the limitation of the maintenance obligations, new regulations related to the liquidation of wealth, as well as the general coverage of the benefit reform in the media and in public discussions led to an improved access to the benefit.     

Extending pension coverage in Cambodia: The governance and investment challenges of the Social Security Investment Fund

Rapid economic growth, declining fertility and changes in family structures have encouraged the Kingdom of Cambodia to reform its old-age pension system. The Government of Cambodia reached an important milestone in 2019, when the Law on Social Security was promulgated. The Law includes provisions for a compulsory defined benefit pension scheme, establishing a sound framework for extending compulsory pension coverage beyond the public sector to formal private-sector workers. As a future step, the compulsory pension scheme should be extended to informal workers. To accompany the reform, the investment policy for the pension scheme’s reserve funds, including the supervisory regime and investment strategy, will be essential for the modernization of the Cambodian social security system. In this regard, Cambodia has successfully sought policy advice. However, the country should continue to seek further advice, and to act on this. Otherwise, the necessary and increasingly pressing policy ambitions of Cambodia to develop an adequate and sustainable social protection system may not be fully realized.     

Whither the evolution of the contemporary social fabric? New technologies and old socio‐economic trends

This article considers whether societies are witnessing another industrial revolution in the light of an assessment of the impact of technological change on today's socio‐economic fabric, especially with respect to employment, income distribution, working conditions and labour relations. The authors argue that the processes of innovation and the spread of what they term “intelligent automation” are likely to exacerbate incumbent patterns of uneven income distribution and power, some of which existed well before the arrival of the technologies concerned, while others have emerged over the past 30 to 40 years. They venture to consider policy implications on the basis of such developments.     

“两个大局”背景下中国核安全文化发展现状及对策探析

核安全关乎国计民生。实现核安全纵深防御,须持续培育核安全文化。关注“两个大局”背景下的中国核安全文化发展,是当前核安全工作的重中之重。“两个大局”背景下中国核安全文化在价值统领、理论创新、法律完善、行业落实、公众沟通等方面向好发展,但也存在着多价值观研究而少具体行为准则研究、对传统安全文化利用不深、国际影响力与自身核安全实力不匹配等不足。危与机并存,一方面中国核能开发与治理方兴未艾,另一方面西方主导国际核安全文化话语权。对此,中国核安全文化要坚持马克思主义理论指导,辩证吸收国内外核安全文化建设经验,汲取和合、忧患、担当的中华优秀传统文化,借助“一带一路”大力弘扬核安全命运共同体理念。     

法律近代化与济弱功能的弱化

中国法律近代化基本上是西方法系移植的结果,在公平、自由的形式下,把底层劳动者置于弱势地位,因社会转型政府集中力量致力于自强与独立使其付出的代价,无法得到补偿和救济;而传统的社会救济体系已被打破,下层民众得不到政府的关照,处于生存危机状态。     

适合我国证券市场投资组合模型的构建

单指数横型和多指数横型不能准确地计量我国证券投资的风险。选取流通市值作为规模因素对夏普的证券组合模型进行修正,通过股票的周收益率的平均值或平均值之差来量化流通市值而构建出的证券市场投资组合的二因素模型的统计检验结果表明:流通市值对多数证券的周收益率具有较强的解释能力,且加入市值差异后,回归方程中残差的相关性有明显的下降。     

亦庄地区统筹城乡就业和社会保障的问题与对策

妥善处理农转非人员的就业安置问题,是统筹亦庄地区城乡劳动力就业和社会保障工作的关键。文章根据亦庄镇适龄劳动力求职需求调查问卷和农转非人员访谈调研的分析,认为亦庄地区统筹城乡就业和社会保障工作方面的问题主要受到制度因素、个人因素和社会经济发展因素等方面的影响,故可以尝试从完善制度保障、加强劳动力培训和共享社会经济发展成果三方面采取措施。     

试论美国非政府组织对香港“一国两制”的介入

美国非政府组织在香港通过发表研究报告、为选举提供技术支持和直接支持香港“泛民主派”的反政府活动来介入香港“一国两制”的实施。美国涉港活动的非政府组织与美国政府有密切的人事关系,这些活动背后有着美国政府在资金方面的庞大支持。为了香港2017年开始的民主选举政治顺利开展和“一国两制”的顺利推进,以及为了中国的国家安全利益,中国政府必须从政治上和法律上采取以下措施：继续坚持“爱国者治港”和“高度自治”原则;鼓励香港建制派深耕基层;落实《基本法》23条立法。