Calasanti T M, Bonanno A
Soc Sci Med. 1986;23(12):1229-36. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(86)90285-6.
The paper addresses critically the issue of the age/dependency ratio in the United States. It is argued that embedded in this 'objective' statistic are struggles among specific social groups and societal contradictions which only come to the fore when its assumptions, calculations and usage are explored. Through an examination of the notion of social creation of dependency, the manner in which the dependency ratio is calculated and the relationship between the socio-economic structure and the creation of dependency, it is argued that the commonly employed statistics are based on assumptions that are supportive of existing dominant social relations. This phenomenon generates a reproduction of these relations and, at the same time, circumscribes the range of solutions to the problems.
本文批判性地探讨了美国的年龄/抚养比问题。文章认为，在这个“客观”统计数据中，蕴含着特定社会群体之间的斗争和社会矛盾，而这些只有在探究其假设、计算方法和用途时才会凸显出来。通过考察依赖的社会建构概念、抚养比的计算方式以及社会经济结构与依赖产生之间的关系，文章认为，常用的统计数据所依据的假设支持了现有的主导社会关系。这种现象导致了这些关系的再生产，同时也限制了解决问题的方法范围。
