Quadagno J
Institute on Aging, Florida State University, Tallahassee 32306.
Int J Health Serv. 1990;20(4):631-49. doi: 10.2190/K8BE-3MHC-HPWV-E4LG.
The concept of generational equity--that the nation is squandering its wealth on entitlements to the elderly while children remain impoverished--has received considerable media attention. The author traces the source of that message to an organization, Americans for Generational Equity, which is dedicated to restructuring the Social Security system along the lines of a social assistance program: reduced benefits available at later ages only to those who qualify through means tests. The impact of this agenda would be to increase the labor force participation of older people, particularly women and minorities, those presently without private pension coverage and already heavily represented in that sector of the economy where labor shortage is developing. Defining national spending priorities in terms of intergenerational conflict obscures the fact that Social Security is the only U.S. welfare program that has been successful in reducing poverty levels.
代际公平的概念——即国家在为老年人提供福利时挥霍财富，而儿童却仍处于贫困之中——已经受到了媒体的广泛关注。作者将这一观点的源头追溯到一个名为“美国代际公平组织”的团体，该组织致力于按照社会救助项目的思路对社会保障体系进行重组：只有那些通过经济状况调查的人才能在晚年获得减少后的福利。这一议程的影响将是提高老年人，尤其是妇女和少数族裔的劳动力参与率，这些人目前没有私人养老金覆盖，并且在劳动力短缺正在出现的经济部门中占比很高。用代际冲突来定义国家支出优先事项，掩盖了社会保障是美国唯一一个成功降低贫困水平的福利项目这一事实。
