This article is concerned with the influence of welfare culture on society's old age support institutions and practice. It examines the development of old age support programs in contemporary China from a cultural pe...This article is concerned with the influence of welfare culture on society's old age support institutions and practice. It examines the development of old age support programs in contemporary China from a cultural perspective in an attempt to reveal the interaction between social welfare patterns for the elderly and social policy-makers' conception of social welfare and traditional social welfare culture. What stands in the way of the transition of Chinese social welfare for the elderly fi'om a residual to an institutional model is a value system founded on restrictions and lack of awareness of civil fights. These factors limit the role of social welfare in narrowing the gaps between different social strata in the aged population and lead to inequitable welfare resource distribution. Although an aging population and the diffusion of welfare state culture are pushing the Chinese social welfare system toward diversified development, its final establishment still depends on a reexamination by the public and policy-makers of the relationship between individual citizens and the state.展开更多
文摘This article is concerned with the influence of welfare culture on society's old age support institutions and practice. It examines the development of old age support programs in contemporary China from a cultural perspective in an attempt to reveal the interaction between social welfare patterns for the elderly and social policy-makers' conception of social welfare and traditional social welfare culture. What stands in the way of the transition of Chinese social welfare for the elderly fi'om a residual to an institutional model is a value system founded on restrictions and lack of awareness of civil fights. These factors limit the role of social welfare in narrowing the gaps between different social strata in the aged population and lead to inequitable welfare resource distribution. Although an aging population and the diffusion of welfare state culture are pushing the Chinese social welfare system toward diversified development, its final establishment still depends on a reexamination by the public and policy-makers of the relationship between individual citizens and the state.