Policy and Practice
Optimizing National Tax Policies to Consider the Special Needs of Elderly Citizens
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Aj Stagliano
Taxation policies that consider the special case of senior citizens must take into account the unique financial needs of this growing population segment. This is particularly important with regard to income, healthcare, and housing costs. An optimal tax policy that is focused and deliberate in respecting senior citizens’ special circumstances will strike a balance between generating necessary government revenue and ensuring the financial well-being of older adults. Furthermore, intergenerational equity among different age cohort groups within the whole population of taxpayers requires attention. Senior citizens, as a class, have distinctive financial challenges, including reduced post-retirement income, increased healthcare costs, and reliance on pensions and government-sponsored old-age benefits. Crafting tax policies that address these factors requires a nuanced approach that considers equity, efficiency, and economic sustainability. By implementing progressive tax structures, providing exemptions for retirement income, offering healthcare-related tax credits, and ensuring fair property tax policies, governments can support the financial security of older adults. Additionally, tax policies in place should encourage long-term retirement savings far in advance of citizens reaching the end of their normal working years. Optimizing tax policies can promote both the well-being of senior citizens and sustainability of public finances.
Addressing the Mandatory and Involuntary Retirement of Older Adults: A Social Justice Issue
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jan Marie Fritz, Tina Uys
This study focuses on the mandatory retirement and involuntary retirement of older adults as a rather hidden and unaddressed social justice issue. Mandatory retirement is the age at which persons who hold certain jobs or offices are required by business, custom or law to leave their work. Involuntary retirement is a term that sometimes is used when there is a focus on the custom for workers to be forced to retire by their employers because of their older age. There often does not seem to be recognition that forced retirement because of age is a discriminatory act. This study covers the following topics: becoming aware of mandatory retirement policies and practices; protecting the rights of older adults; ageism and mandatory/involuntary retirement; the current situation in Iceland, South Korea and Sweden; and suggested actions including having the right to work included in a UN convention on the rights of older people..
Discretion for Whom? Local Policies and the Agency Problem between Politicians and Care Managers in Swedish Social Service
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sara Wittberg
Research on social work’s relation to local political decisions and the design of political policy documents is scarce. This paper analyses the design of local political policies for elder care in Sweden’s 290 municipalities. The policies determine delegation, i.e., care managers’ legal right to make decisions about the welfare services given to older people. By mapping documents for delegation, the results show that care managers’ delegation varies considerably between municipalities, e.g., by the decision-making being conditioned to local political guidelines, or by consultation with a manager. The Principal Agent theory (PAT) is used to discuss the findings. Analysed through the PAT, care managers can be understood as agents set to perform tasks on behalf of the politicians. Local policies can be viewed as a tool for political control by minimising risks of unpredictability and arbitrariness in decision-making. This raises questions about the role of care managers and the extent of their professional freedom while assessing needs to ensure older people a reasonable standard of living. The results highlight the importance of accounting for the structural political context and its consequences for frontline bureaucrats.
