Full Description
This insightful book clarifies the meaning of social sustainability and how it can be assessed in ageing welfare states. It explores the impact of population ageing on well-being and social policies, identifying the resources and institutions which can facilitate well-being and social sustainability without compromising financial and environmental sustainability.
Expert contributors discuss the concept of social sustainability from different disciplinary and policy perspectives, focusing on social protection, pensions, care, immigration and health. They highlight the importance of well-being and its fair distribution and address the trade-offs between economic and social sustainability in different policy areas. Crucially, they propose constructive measures which governments can adopt to ensure a sustainable future for welfare states.
Students and researchers of social policy, demography, social work, economics and sociology will enhance their understanding of social sustainability and its contribution to welfare state research. The book will also be invaluable for professionals and policymakers working in social and health policy, pensions and the labour market providing guidance on how to promote social sustainability through their work.
Contents
Contents
Preface and acknowledgements x
List of abbreviations xi
Introduction to Social Sustainability in Ageing Welfare States xiii
Maria Vaalavuo, Kati Kuitto and Kenneth Nelson
1 Well-being and its distribution across age groups: an integral
part of social sustainability in ageing welfare states 1
Joonas Uotinen, Maria Vaalavuo and Frank Martela
2 Positive-sum solutions in the generational welfare state 23
Jan Helmdag and Kenneth Nelson
3 Child poverty and pro-elderly bias in social protection
spending 46
Yekaterina Chzhen
4 The fall in absolute intergenerational mobility: consequences
for subjective well-being 65
Toni Juuti and Ohto Kanninen
5 Intergenerational support and late-life well-being 85
Lore Van Herreweghe and Wim Van Lancker
6 Inequalities in social care as barriers to social sustainability:
towards care justice 108
Minna Zechner and Lena Näre
7 How to make extending working lives in ageing welfare states
socially sustainable 127
Kati Kuitto and Kun Lee
8 Social sustainability and the activation of workers with health
problems 153
Thomas Leoni
9 Immigration: a necessity for economic sustainability, a
challenge for social sustainability? 173
Maria Vaalavuo and Shadia Rask
10 The political perspective of social sustainability: age-based
representation 194
Mari S. Helliesen and Yvette Peters
11 Integrated sustainability: what is it and what are its
implications for social care in ageing welfare states? 216
Paul Bridgen and Paula Saikkonen
