Social security, or community cafeterias? Medicare, or family care? US and China systems compared скачать в хорошем качестве

Social security, or community cafeterias? Medicare, or family care? US and China systems compared

Social Security and Medicare are on a trajectory to eventually bankrupt the United States, yet political realities make changing the benefits in a meaningful way almost impossible legislatively. Europe's financial future is similarly dire, with their cradle-to-grave entitlement systems even more generous than America's. It's commonly known that it cannot possibly continue for much longer, and our younger people are fully aware that these generous programs won't be around for them to enjoy. China never considered adopting a US-style retirement and medical care system for its retirees. Even as their economy boomed and trading surpluses and reserves piled up, they did not set up a generous pension system for their retirees, as many observers expected. Instead, they fashioned a family- and local-community-centered system of elder care, at about one eighth the per-person cost. Few developing countries will get wealthy enough quickly enough to build sustainable welfare and entitlement systems that are common in North America and Western Europe. Plus, to do so would go against centuries of culture and tradition, which still holds that children are primarily responsible to provide the needed care and support for their elderly parents. The ballooning costs of Western entitlement systems are serving as a warning to up-and-coming countries, who will be themselves facing waves of retirees, with difficult decisions ahead as to how best to provide for them.