As the average age of the U.S. population continues to increase, age-related policies have come under intense scrutiny, sparking heated debates. In the past, older people were seen as a frail, dependent population, but major policies enacted or expanded on their behalf have made them major players in electoral and interest-group politics. This thoroughly revised and updated edition of Robert B Hudsons The New Politics of Old Age Policy not only explains the politics behind the countrys age-based programs and describes how those programs work but also assesses how well or poorly they meet the growing and changing needs of older Americans. Essays by leading experts in political science, sociology, law, social work, and gerontology address, among other things, theoretical approaches to age-based policy; population dynamics and the impact of growing diversity within the older population; and national, state, and local issues associated with major age-based programs. More than any other source, this book presents the most current information on growing older in the United States, including in-depth analyses of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, housing initiatives, the Older Americans Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and tax policy. Detailed new chapters focus on financial security and retirement in the context of the Great Recession, diversity and inequality in aging populations, and implications of the Affordable Care Act. Scholars, students, and policymakers will appreciate the volumes timely overview of the evolution of aging policy.
List of ContributorsPreface1. Contemporary Challenges to Aging Policy2. The Implications of Structural Lag for Old Age Policy3. Fiscal Effects of Population Aging in the United States4. The Great Divide: Elite and Mass Opinion about Social Security5. The Shifting Political Construction of Older Americans as aTarget Population6. Working, Retiring, and the New Old Age7. Diversity and the Economic Security of Older Americans8. The Policy Challenges of a Larger and More Diverse: Oldest-Old Population9. Social Security, the Great Recession, and the Entitlements Problem10. The Medicare Challenge: Clients, Cost Controls, and Congress11. Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me, When I'm 84? Long-Term Care Challenges for an Aging America12. Means-Testing of Entitlements: Good Policy? Good Politics?13. Ageism's Many Forms: Institutional, Unintended, and ReverseConclusion. The Futures of Old Age Politics and Policy
