New Life Courses, Social Risks and Social Policy in East Asia [Hardcover]

Social policy in modern industrialised societies is increasingly challenged by new social risks. These include insecure employment resulting from ever more volatile labour markets, new family and gender relationships resulting from the growing participation of women in the labour market, and the many problems resulting from very much longer human life expectancy. Whereas once social policy had to be in step with a standardised, relatively stable and predictable life course, it now has to cope with non-standardised individual preferences, life courses and families, and the consequent increased risks and uncertainties. This book examines these new life courses and their impact on social policy across a range of East Asian societies. It shows how governments and social welfare institutions have been slow to respond to the new challenges. In response, we propose a life-course sensitised policy as an approach to manage these risks. Overall, the book provides many new insights which will assist advance social policy in East Asia.

Introduction PART 1: Changes in Transitions2. Extended transitions to adulthood in Japan: Labour market flexibilization and the weakness of social security for young people Akihiko Higuchi 3.Social Policies Addressing the Transition from School to Work of Post-Secondary Graduates in Taiwan: A Social Investment Perspective Chih-lung Huang4. Will Dreams Come True? The Transformation of Social Inequality Structures in Cambodia  Experiences of a New Generation of Youth Managing the Uncertainties of Their Life Course Chivoin Peou and Jens O. ZinnPART 2: Competing Demands5. Reconciling Work and Family in Taiwan: Problems and Policies Pei-Yuen Tsai 6. The Double Responsibilities of Care in Japan: Emerging New Social Risks for Women Providing both Childcare and care for the Elderly Junko Yamashita and Naoko Soma7.l£è