[Is the welfare state threatened by the aging population?].
Growth of the number and proportion of the elderly in the coming decades will be undoubtedly the greatest threat so far to the Welfare State. However, the various decisions aimed at assisting the old, and firstly the very old, should avoid to take into account only the quantitative, monetary or similar issues. Certain decisions introduce new forms of assistance which may be less appropriate than the former solutions they replace. Moreover, the elderly population is not an homogeneous group. A global expansion of the assistance coverage is less efficient to promote equity that selective measures directed towards those who are in greatest need. Similarly, an efficient promotion of "living at homes" versus "nursing homes" requires more than money or good will, it calls for an all-out effort for understanding complex situations and uniting actors having divergent interests.
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Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail (LEST-CNRS), Aix en Provence.
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D003688:Deinstitutionalization; D005602:France; D006304:Health Status; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D009826:Old Age Assistance; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors