Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk

Government, Markets and Social Policy in the Twenty-First Century

Edited by Jacob Hacker and Ann O'Leary

Present a timely argument of key issues in American social policy
Features essays from top intellectuals in the field

Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk

Government, Markets and Social Policy in the Twenty-First Century

Edited by Jacob Hacker and Ann O'Leary

Description

The collapse of the financial markets in 2008 and the resulting 'Great Recession' merely accelerated an already worrisome trend: the shift away from an employer-based social welfare system in the United States. Since the end of World War II, a substantial percentage of the costs of social provision--most notably, unemployment insurance and health insurance--has been borne by employers rather than the state. The US has long been unique among advanced economies in this regard, but in recent years, its social contract has become so frayed that is fast becoming unrecognizable. Despite Obama's election, the burdens of social provision are falling increasingly upon individual families, and the situation is worsening because of the unemployment crisis. How can we repair the American social welfare system so that workers and families receive adequate protection and, if necessary, provision from the ravages of the market?

In Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk, Jacob Hacker and Ann O'Leary have gathered a distinguished group of scholars on American social policy to address this most fundamental of problems. Collectively, they analyze how the 'privatization of risk' has increased hardships for American families and increased inequality. They also propose a series of solutions that would distribute the burdens of risks more broadly and expand the social safety net. The range of issues covered is broad: health care, homeownership, social security and aging, unemployment, wealth (as opposed to income) creation, education, and family-friendly policies. The book is also comparative, measuring US social policy against the policies of other advanced nations. Given the current crisis in America social policy and the concomitant paralysis within government, the book has the potential to make an important intervention in the current debate.

Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk

Government, Markets and Social Policy in the Twenty-First Century

Edited by Jacob Hacker and Ann O'Leary

Foreword: Shared Responsibility, Craig Calhoun
About the Contributors

Part I: Inspirations and Challenges for Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk
Chapter 1: The New Economic Insecurity and What Can Be Done About It , Jacob S. Hacker
Chapter 2: History of the Government as Risk Manager, David Moss
Chapter 3: The American Challenge in Cross-National Perspective, Neil Gilbert
Chapter 4: The Arms of Democracy: The Legacy of Economic Security Policy, Mariano-Florentino Cuellar and Connor Raso

Part II: Improving Economic Security for Workers
Chapter 5: The Role of Government in Ensuring Job Security, Heather Boushey
Chapter 6: Income Security When Temporarily Away from Work, Stephen D. Sugarman

Part III: Improving Economic Security for Families
Chapter 7: Public Policy to Build Wealth for America's Middle Class, Christian Weller and Amy Helburn
Chapter 8: Risk Allocation in Homeownership, Katherine Porter and Tara Twomey
Chapter 9: Risk Sharing When Work & Family Clash: The Need for Government and Employer Innovation, Ann O'Leary

Part IV: Increasing Health and Retirement Security
Chapter 10: Securing Health, Jacob S. Hacker
Chapter 11: Redesigning Our Retirement System in the Wake of the Financial Collapse, Alicia Munnell
Chapter 12: Government's Role in Aging and Long-Term Care, Andrew Scharlach and Amanda Lehning

Part V: Conclusions
Chapter 13: A Philosophy of Governance for a Risky Economy, Martha Minow
Conclusion: America's Next Social Compact: Lessons from the Past, Prospects for the Future, Jacob S. Hacker and Ann O'Leary

Shared Responsibility, Shared Risk

Government, Markets and Social Policy in the Twenty-First Century

Edited by Jacob Hacker and Ann O'Leary

Author Information

Jacob S. Hacker is Professor of Political Science at Yale University.

Ann O'Leary is Director of the Children and Families Program at the Center for the Next Generation and a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

Contributors:

Heather Boushey
Senior Economist, Center for American Progress

Craig Calhoun
President, Social Science Research Council

Mariano-Florentino Cuellar
Professor of Law and Deane F. Johnson Faculty Scholar, Stanford University

Neil Gilbert
Chernin Professor of Social Welfare, UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare

Jacob S. Hacker
Stanley B. Resor Professor, Yale University

Amy Helburn
Doctoral Candidate, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Amanda Lehning
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan School of Social Work

Martha L. Minow
Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law and Dean of the Faculty of Law, Harvard Law School

David Moss
John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration
Harvard University Business School

Alicia H. Munnell
Peter F. Drucker Chair in Management Sciences - Finance Department, Boston College Carroll School of Management
Director, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

Ann O'Leary
Lecturer in Residence, UC Berkeley School of Law
Executive Director, Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security

Katherine M. Porter
Robert Braucher Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Professor of Law, University of Iowa College of Law

Connor Raso
Law Clerk, United States Court of Appeals for Second Circuit
Doctoral Candidate, Stanford University

Andrew Scharlach
Associate Dean and Eugene and Rose Kleiner Professor of Aging, UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare

Stephen D. Sugarman
Roger J. Traynor Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law

Tara Twomey
Of Counsel to the National Consumer Law Center
Advocacy Director, National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center

Christian E. Weller
Associate Professor of Public Policy, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress