Weekly schedule [all readings are in the course kit and are required]

January 4 – Welcome, introduction, course theme, and overview of the course

January 11 – The welfare state and aging

• The Economist. 2009. A slow-burning fuse: A special report of aging populations, June 27. 
• Seabrook, Jeremy. 2003. A world growing old. Toronto: Between the Lines. Introduction pp. 1-13.
• Binstock, Robert H. 2005. The Contemporary Politics of Old Age Policies. In R. B. Hudson (ed.), The New Politics of Old Age Policy. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 265-293.

January 18 – Demographic trends in Canada and the nature of old age

• McDaniel, Susan A. 2003. “Toward disentangling policy implications of economic and demographic changes in Canada's aging population.” Canadian Public Policy. 29.4: 491-510.
• Denton, Frank and Byron G. Spencer. 2002. “Some demographic consequences of revising the definition of ‘old age’ to reflect future changes in life table probabilities.” Canadian Journal on Aging. 2.3: 349-356.
• Robson, William B. P. and Yvan Guillemette 2006. No elixir of youth: Immigration cannot keep Canada young. Toronto: C.D. Howe Institute.

January 25 – International perspectives

• Schulz, James H. and Robert H. Binstock. 2006. Aging nation: The economics and politics of growing older in America. Wesport, Connecticut: Praeger. Chapter 9 and 10, pp. 201-235.
• Aspalter, Christian. 2006. “The East Asian welfare model.” International Journal of Social Welfare. 15; 290-301.

Article review is due

February 1 – Income security in Canada

• Pierson, Paul. 2003. “The politics of pension reform.” In Keith Banting and Robin Broadway (eds.). 2003. Reform of retirement income policy: A comparative view. Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 273-293.
• Béland, Daniel, and John Myles. 2005. "Stasis amidst change: Canadian pension reform in an age of retrenchment." In Aging and pension reform around the world, G. Bonoli and T. Shinkawa, eds. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Chapter 12: 252-273.

February 8 - Income security in a comparative context

• Gillin, C. T. and Thomas R. Klassen. 1995. “Age discrimination and mandatory retirement policies: A comparison of labor market regulation in Canada and the United States,” Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 7.1: 85-102.

Research proposal is due

Note: No class on February 15 as this is Reading Week

February 22 – Employment and retirement in Canada

• LaSelva, Samuel V. 1987. “Mandatory retirement: Intergenerational justice and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” Canadian Journal of Political Science. 20.1: 149-162.
• Klassen, Thomas R. and C. T. Gillin. 2005. “Legalized age discrimination,” Journal of Law and Social Policy. 30: 35-51.
• Gillin, C. T., David MacGregor and Thomas R. Klassen, eds. 2005. Time's up: Mandatory retirement in Canada. Toronto: James Lorimer. Chapter 1 and 2: 11-44.
• Hering, Martin, and Thomas R. Klassen. 2009.  “Strengthening fairness and funding in the Canada pension plan: Is raising the retirement age and option?” in press

March 1 – Employment and retirement in a comparative context

• Choi, Young-Jun. 2006. Transformations in Economic Security during Old Age in Korea: The Implications for Public-Pension Reform. Ageing & Society, 26.4: 549-565.

March 8 – The future of retirement

• Townson, Monica. 2006. Growing older, working longer: The new face of retirement. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Chapter 1, pp. 10-36.
• Munnell, Alicia H. and Steven A. Sass. 2008. Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge. Washington: Brookings Institution Press. Chapters 6 and 7: pp. 117-148.

March 15 – Health care in Canada

• Evans, Robert G. 1987. “Hang together, or hang separately: the viability of a universal health care system in an aging society.” Canadian Public Policy. 13: 165-180.
• Denton, Frank T. and Bryon G. Spencer. 1995. “Demographic change and the cost of publicly funded health care.” Canadian Journal on Aging. 14: 174-192

March 22 – Heath care in a comparative context

• Quadagno, Jill. 2004. “Why the United States Has No National Health Insurance: Stakeholder Mobilization Against the Welfare State, 1945-1996.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 45 (Extra Issue): 25-44.
• Kim, Shinyoung. 2004. The Theoretical Relevance of Western, Welfare-State Models in Third World Nations: The Case of Korean Health and Pension Programs. Asian Perspective, 28.2:  205-232.

March 29 – The Future of Aging Politics ad Policies

Final paper is due