Globalisation and Future Trends: Welfare and Long-Term Care Systems in East Asia and West Europe

This paper consists of an examination of the literature on the welfare and long-term care systems of the three countries studied (England, the Netherlands and Taiwan). The age group most likely to need welfare services in any country is those aged 65 and over (Jackbzone, 1999). Part of the reason for this is that from this age onwards, populations tend to experience poverty, isolation following the death of partners, personal disabilities and so on. Throughout the developed world, countries are facing the challenge of developing long-term care systems and policies that will meet the basic needs of the disabled elderly - at the same time trying to achieve good quality and economical care provision by finding a balance between the state and family. This paper will initially involve an examination of each countrys welfare system and the global issues that are having an impact on policy. This will be followed by an exploration of the political and service responses to the long-term care of older people in the three countries. Comparisons will be made between demographic characteristics, labour market participation, the cultural and political differences shaping policy objectives, economic constraints and long-term care services. The statistical data for this paper have been collected from supra-national institutions (i.e. WHO, OECD, Eurostat) and national governments (i.e. England:Office for National Statistics, Netherlands: Statistic Netherlands, Taiwan: Executive Yuan/Department). While such indicators need to be treated with care because of a lack of consistent data, they, nevertheless, supply us with a basic understanding of social, political and economic circumstances.