Aging Societies: The Global Dimension - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0815710259 ISBN 13: 9780815710257

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press, 1998

Synopsis

By 2030, when most American baby boomers will have retired, all the large industrial economies will see a massive increase in the old age population. This book examines population aging and its implications for public retirement programs in the five largest industrial economies--Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States. The authors report on national demographic trends, examine the current living conditions of the aged population, explain the structure of the retirement system, and offer estimates of future budgetary costs of the public programs. They also discuss national debates over the potential reform of public retirement systems.

While all five countries share the prospect of an older population, variations in the size and timing of demographic change, as well as important differences in the structure of public programs for the elderly, suggest that population aging will have widely different implications in each country. In Germany and Japan, for example, the population will not only grow older but may actually decline because of low birth rates. The United States will experience less aging, but its debate over reform treats seriously the possibility of privatizing public retirement commitments.

About this title

About the Author:

Barry Bosworth is a senior fellow and Robert V. Roosa Chair in International Economics at the Brookings Institution. Gary Burtless is the John C. and Nancy D. Whitehead Chair in the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution.

About this edition

• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0815710259
• ISBN 13: 9780815710257
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 333
• Editor: Bosworth Barry P., Burtless Gary