| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
Income transfers to the elderly in East Asia
— testing Asian values | | Author(s) | Huck-ju Kwon |
| Corporate Author | ESRC Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion - CASE, Suntory-Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines - STICERD, London School of Economics and Political Science |
| Publisher | STICERD, London, 1999 |
| Pages | 23 pp (CASEpaper 27) |
| Source | Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE. |
| Keywords | Cost of living ; Pensions ; Social policy ; Japan ; Korea ; Taiwan. |
| Annotation | The role of family and the state in relation to the living standards of older people in East Asia, and the social policy institutions of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are examined. The author tests whether familial arrangements according to Confucian ethics - which are still taken seriously in East Asia - secures minimum standards of living for older people. The author argues that public policy in the region assumes the family as primarily responsible for older people's living standards. Private and public income transfers to households with older people are analysed, based on micro-data sets for South Korea and Taiwan. The article argues that private transfers do make important contributions to the income of older - particularly poorer - households, while public transfers do not make any significant impact. This suggests that Confucian ethics are still working. Private transfers, however, fail to secure the minimum standards of living for older people, and they are far more prone to poverty. The findings support the case for state action to protect the living standards of older people in East Asia. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-990707209 B |
| Classmark | J3C: JJ: TM2: 7DT: 7DK: 7DP |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|