Learning Resources
Please read and view (where applicable) the following Learning Resources before you complete this week’s assignments.
Readings
- Course Text: Experiencing the Lifespan
- Chapter 11, “Relationships and Roles” (pp. 351 – 360 only)
- Chapter 13, “Later Life: Cognitive and Socioemotional Development” (pp. 409 – 414 only)
- Article: Hungerford, T. L. (2003). Is there an American way of aging? Income dynamics of the elderly in the United States and Germany. Research on Aging, 25(5), 435 – 455. Retrieved August 18, 2008, from http://roa.sagepub.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/cgi/reprint/25/5/435.
Web Sites
- Tips for Managers: Generation and Gender in the Workforce
http://familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/GG-managertips.pdf
This is a four-page report that summarizes employer policies that promote productivity. The Families and Work Institute (www.familiesandwork.org) was cofounded by Ellen Galinsky and Dana Freidman in 1989 in order to study work and family. The institute provides current research about the role of employers in family life, and provides information about employers who are able to maintain a stable and productive workforce while encouraging positive family roles.
- Can You Afford to Retire?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/retirement/need/
This program can be viewed in its entirety online and describes the issues that individuals should consider early in adulthood in order to prepare for a positive retirement.
Optional Resources
- Web Site: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Longitudinal Surveys
http://www.bls.gov/nls/ - Web Site: Can You Afford to Retire? Teacher Center, Student Handout
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/retirement/hand2.html
Bottom of Form
Application: Retirement
Retirement is a modern concept. In many parts of the world, retirement is not a part of the life course. In Western cultures such as Germany and Hong Kong, most people can expect to retire comfortably.
Thirty years ago, the majority of workers in the United States were enrolled in retirement plans. Those retirement plans provided a set amount of money for the rest of a person’s life. Today, less than 25% of the workforce can expect to retire with such a plan. In fact, half of all workers have no job-related retirement plans at all, and can expect to rely only on Social Security and on the amount of money they save.
In this Application, you will compare and contrast retirement opportunities between two cultures. You will choose either Germany or Hong Kong, and compare and contrast the culture of that country to the culture of the United States. Then you will propose at least two government policies that might promote positive retirement outcomes for all Americans based Employer policies that promote productivity on the Learning Resources or other resources you have developed.
To prepare for this assignment:
- Review the assigned pages from Chapter 13 in the course text, Experiencing the Lifespan.
- Review the program “Can You Afford to Retire?” on the PBS Web site, listed in the Learning Resources.
- Review the article “Is There an American Way of Aging? Income Dynamics of the Elderly in the United States and Germany,” in the Learning Resources.
- Select either Germany or Hong Kong. Compare retirement opportunities in that culture to those in the United States.
- Think about retirement issues in the United States and in the culture you selected.
- Think about what it would be like to retire from a middle-class job in the United States and from the same type of job in the culture you selected.
- Review policy discussions from the Learning Resources.
The assignment (1–2 pages):
- Describe the potential positive and negative outcomes that are predictable in Germany or Hong Kong and in the United States. Describe what individuals might do in each culture to protect themselves from falling into poverty. Conclude your Application with at least two suggestions for policies (taken from the Learning Resources or other resources you find) that would help to keep most Americans out of poverty during retirement.
TO BE RE-WRITTEN FROM THE SCRATCH
Get Professionally Written Papers From The Writing Experts
Retirement Opportunities
This paper compares and contrasts retirement opportunities between United States of America and Germany. Comparing many retirees in the U.S. to other retirees in wealthy countries such as Germany can be a bit challenging following the dissimilarities that exist in terms of various recent pension reforms, the retirement age and private and public benefit programs (Edelman, 2014). Since retirement is a contemporary concept, various parts of the world do not include it in their life course.
Comparing retirement opportunities in the US to those in Germany, both nations have public pension systems that are based on pay-as-you-go platform. These systems have a resulting sensitivity to changes in the distribution of age, which has been the center of focus in many debates regarding population aging. Therefore, both nations ensure that their workers whose income is little are supplied with minimum level retirement earning (Ezra & Collie, 2009). In addition, both nations ensure that their workers are broadly covered by social security.
However, it is, also, essential to note that United States and Germany have substantial differences in their retirement opportunities. In Germany the law subjects a quarter of the labor force to mandatory retirement age of 65, and this applies to both the private and public sectors (Attorney, 2015). In the context of Unites States, mandatory retirement is prohibited by age discrimination laws. Secondly, Germany restricts part-time jobs for retirees more than the US because of high infringement benefits and inflexible work regulations. Thirdly, even though private pensions augment the public retirement systems……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Employer policies that promote productivity…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
