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A Comparative Examination of Perceived Income Adequacy Among Young and Old in Sweden and the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Harold L. Sheppard  and
Larry C. Mullins
Harold L. Sheppard
Affiliation:
International Exchange Center on Gerontology, P.O. Box 3208, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620 and Department of Gerontology, SOC 107, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA.
Larry C. Mullins
Affiliation:
International Exchange Center on Gerontology, P.O. Box 3208, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620 and Department of Gerontology, SOC 107, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA.
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Abstract

This research examines the comparative perceived income adequacy among older Swedes and older Americans. The persisting issue of ‘poverty’ and income adequacy, and the use of monetary-unit income (dollars, kroner, etc.) as a basis for determining levels of poverty or of income adequacy has severe limitations. In an attempt to simplify the problem of developing standard measures for different monetary-unit systems, i.e. between nations, this study utilises a typology of perceived income adequacy to examine, among older persons in Sweden, the extent to which they believe their incomes support a satisfying standard of living. Additionally, the research examines differences in income adequacy between the U.S. and Sweden. Results from the 1981 NCOA/Harris survey data in the U.S. are compared with findings from a representative survey of older Swedes conducted by SIFO in 1986. Among other results, it is found that for older Swedes only 20% feel financially hard-strapped, compared to 35% of older Americans. Discussion of this and other findings is included. Income adequacy of the elderly in Sweden should be of particular interest to policymakers in the U.S. because of the widely held belief that Sweden has achieved a level of income security beyond the ‘safety net’.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , September 1989 , pp. 223 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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References

NOTES

1 For the design of the 1981 U.S. study see Harris, and Associates, Aging in the Eighties: America in Transition. Washington, D.C., National Council on Aging, 1981.Google Scholar

2 Andersson, B. R.Rationality and irrationality of the Nordic welfare state. Daedalus (1984), winter, 109–140.Google Scholar

3 Government Accounting Office, Noncash Benefits. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Printing office, 1987.Google Scholar

4 Harris, , and Associates, 1981, op. cit.Google Scholar

5 Sheppard, H. L. and Mantovani, R. E.Hard-Strapped and Well-Off Retirees: A Study of Perceived Income Adequacy. Washington, D.C.: National Council on Aging, 1982.Google Scholar

6 Sidel, W., ‘Medical care in Sweden – planned pluralism’, Social Change in Sweden. New York: Swedish Information Service, 1979.Google Scholar

7 The U.S. data analysis restricted so far to retirees and others 55 and older shows that this group or type was intermediate in many respects, notably: reported income; ability to save; having to use up savings; home ownership, etc. In other words, the three types emerging from this method reflect reality, and are not a matter of caprice.

8 Sheppard, H. L. and Mantovani, R. E., 1982, op. cit.Google Scholar