Description
Book SynopsisElgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary.
Written by a global collective of scholars from a wide variety of backgrounds, including health studies, psychology and economics as well as social policy and gerontology, this timely Research Agenda highlights the challenges and opportunities of rising longevity and population ageing for social policy providing clear directions for future research.
Divided into five comprehensive parts, this Research Agenda examines research priorities from policy perspectives, the role of social policy research in relation to intergovernmental organisations, and the framework for future-oriented social policies on ageing provided by a life-course approach. It demonstrates that social policy experts must evaluate interests and expectations both qualitatively and quantitatively, and asserts that future research on social policy and ageing will be inspired by a broad range of stakeholders, including non-governmental interest organisations and state actors.
A Research Agenda for Ageing and Social Policy will be enlightening for students and researchers focusing on social policy, ageing, development, health policy and inequality. It will also be a fascinating read for practitioners seeking a wider understanding of social policy priorities and processes.
Trade Review‘The changes in the age structure of the population have preoccupied science, politics and civil society for many years. Approaches to record the associated concomitant phenomena in a comprehensive and internationally comparable scientific framework and to prepare the results for ageing and social policy measures have so far remained largely inconsequential. However, in order to plan and implement an efficient and successful ageing and social policy, a sound empirical basis is required. Creating such a foundation is the aim of the researchers who have come together for this book. Their contributions take into account the diverse geographical, historical, cultural, structural and social conditions that are significant for a good life in old age. On behalf of AGE Platform Europe, with over 100 member organisations and a strong voice of older people in Europe, I expressly welcome this initiative and wish the book and its contents a wide distribution and application.’ -- Heidrun Mollenkopf, President, AGE Platform Europe, Belgium
‘It is my great pleasure to warmly welcome this important book, which sets out a comprehensive research agenda for ageing and social policy. The authors perform a valuable task for all of us who seek not only to research the topic of ageing but also to transform the prospects for later life (..) The expert authors the editors have assembled, the wide variety of topics they address, and the logical structure of the book, building towards a specific agenda for research on ageing and social policy, make for a highly significant contribution to gerontology. (…) This valuable addition to the literature on ageing and social policy should become a lasting point of reference for researchers. I hope that it will also be influential in research funding circles.’ -- Alan Walker, Professor of Social Policy and Social Gerontology, University of Sheffield, UK
‘In all countries, increased longevity and an increasing share of older persons in the population are considered a major challenge. Coupled with reduced fertility we see challenges in the provison of care and social services, pension schemes, and an adequate workforce. This book reviews research on demographic change, its determinants and consequences, but also takes a constructive tone on possibilities and solutions for sustained welfare systems. The book presents a research agenda and an agenda for social policy aiming at promoting active ageing and solidarity across generations. While based on academic research, the content is presented in a form easily digestible for policy makers.’ -- Peter Allebeck, Professor of Social Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Chair of the Joint Programming Initiative ‘More Years, Better Lives’, Sweden
Table of ContentsContents: Foreword xv Preface xvii PART I INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction: why do we need a research agenda for ageing and social policy in the 21st century? 3 Kai Leichsenring and Alexandre Sidorenko PART II CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF AGEING AND SOCIAL POLICIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY 2 Population ageing and the demographic deficit: exploring the second demographic dividend 21 Sarah Harper and Yanan Zhang 3 Healthy ageing policies from regional and global perspectives: challenges for social policies and research 41 Norah Keating, Virpi Timonen and Tine Buffel PART III PRIORITIES FOR SOCIAL POLICY RESEARCH IN THE CONTEXT OF POPULATION AND INDIVIDUAL AGEING 4 Ageism and public policies: research on age discrimination at the societal level 63 Clemens Tesch-Römer and Liat Ayalon 5 The future of active ageing and related needs for research 83 Oxana Sinyavskaya 6 Shifts in social policies for old age: towards a life course approach of active ageing? 99 Kathrin Komp-Leukkunen and Marvin Formosa 7 Labour market research for an ageing workforce in times of digitalisation 113 Anette Scoppetta, Laura Naegele and Maria Varlamova 8 Digitalisation and population ageing: social policy dimensions of the digital divide and innovation 131 Alexander Peine, Anne Meissner and Anna Wanka 9 Social relations and the family 151 Toni C. Antonucci, Jasmine A. Manalel, Robin C. Fenley and Martha C. Bial 10 Rising longevity and health care systems: the need for a new approach in social and health policies and research 167 Peter Lloyd-Sherlock and Poliana Fialho de Carvalho 11 Longer lives with long-term care needs: research needed to tackle the care gap 183 Giovanni Lamura and Henk Nies 12 Towards the caring or the uncaring state? A social policy perspective on long-term care trends 203 Teppo Kröger PART IV PERSPECTIVES FROM INTERNATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS 13 Social policy research on ageing needed from the perspective of intergovernmental organisations 221 Nikolai Botev, Julia Ferre and Claudia Mahler 14 Social policy research on the ageing workforce from the perspective of employees and employers 239 Krzysztof Hagemejer, Frank Hoffer and Michał Polakowski PART V CONCLUSIONS 15 Conclusion: towards a research agenda for ageing and social policy in the 21st century 261 Kai Leichsenring and Alexandre Sidorenko Index 275
