The New Politics of Old Age Policy.

Barusch, Amanda Smith

The New Politics of Old Age Policy. Robert B. Hudson (Editor). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005, 316 pages. ISBN: 0-8018-8074-2 $58.00 hardback; ISBN: 0-8018-8075-0 $22.95 paperback.

Building on his observation that "the contemporary social policy debate is more about political ideology than it is about population dynamics" (p. 11), Hudson and his distinguished coauthors offer an intelligent counterpoint to pervasive rhetoric about the gray tsunami that threatens to engulf cherished American institutions.

This scholarly work offers new insights and perspectives for policy analysts. First, Hudson argues that the debate about aging policies is fundamentally about the respective roles of government, family, and charity in meeting the needs of America's elders. Aging policy has become a flashpoint in the broader dialogue about what Americans can expect from their government. This view is echoed in Binstock's later chapter. Holstein argues that universal age-based public policy is vital to the dignity of older adults as a "visible expression of community" (p. 36). Canadian John Myles uses principles of political economy to generate strategies by which pension systems can adjust to an aging population. In a "broadly Rawlsian" analysis, Myles argues for a guaranteed minimum retirement income financed through general revenues. Beginning with the premise that "policy makes politics," Teles speculates about the political consequences of social security reforms. The thought-provoking result might change a reader's approach to policy analysis.

Some chapters explore definitional issues and describe social trends affecting older adults. O'Rand's work reviews retirement research, noting both the increased life expectancy and the longer "active life expectancy" enjoyed by contemporary Americans. Like O'Rand, Flippen underscored the potential impact of increasing the retirement age of people of color and Americans with disabilities. Gonyea offers a sensitive portrayal of the "oldest old," arguing that a social insurance approach to long-term care policy should be disability based rather than age based.

Other chapters offer background material that would be useful in the classroom. Meyer offers a concise description of health and income policies that affect older adults, organized around her argument that the exceptionalism of the U.S. welfare state promotes inequality. Similarly, Herd and Kingson provide a critique of privatization proposals that offers background on Social Security itself. Moon's chapter provides a good sense of the dynamics of Medicare financing even as it reviews various reform possibilities. Grogan's chapter describes the history of Medicaid to argue that it could evolve into a universal long-term care program. Pynoos and Nishita deliver a careful description of housing policies and suggest that accommodation of frailty and disability will be a major theme in this arena. Finally, Binstock catalogues recent developments in aging policy.

A broad range of audiences will benefit from this work. Advanced policy analysts will find new perspectives and intriguing approaches, and social work students will find useful background material on trends and key programs that affect elderly people. Practitioners who serve elderly clients will gain a macro perspective on the programs that help (and hinder) their clients every day. Activists may find a new funding strategy in the discussion of local tax levies provided by Applebaum and colleagues.

Amanda Smith Barusch

University of Utah