The economic lifecycle, gender and intergenerational support : national transfer accounts for Italy

98 Pages·2017·2.158 MB·English

by  Zannella, Marina

SPRINGER BRIEFS IN POPULATION STUDIES
Marina Zannella
The Economic
Lifecycle,
Gender and
Intergenerational
Support
National Transfer
Accounts for Italy
123
SpringerBriefs in Population Studies
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10047
Marina Zannella
The Economic Lifecycle,
Gender and Intergenerational
Support
National Transfer Accounts for Italy
123
Marina Zannella
Department ofMethods andModels for
Economics,Territory andFinance
(MEMOTEF)
Sapienza University of Rome
Rome
Italy
and
Wittgenstein Centrefor Demography and
GlobalHumanCapital
Vienna Institute of Demography
Vienna
Austria
ISSN 2211-3215 ISSN 2211-3223 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs inPopulation Studies
ISBN978-3-319-62667-3 ISBN978-3-319-62669-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-62669-7
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017946029
©TheAuthor(s)2017
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar
methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfrom
therelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinor
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
Printedonacid-freepaper
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbySpringerNature
TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerInternationalPublishingAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
Acknowledgements
Iam grateful tothe members oftheNationalTransfer Accounts andofthe Agenta
project for the stimulating meetings and conversations.
v
Contents
1 The Generational and the Gender Contract ... .... .... ..... .... 1
1.1 Introduction ... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 1
1.2 The Meanings of Aging ... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 3
1.3 NTA: Key Concepts. ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 4
1.4 The Economic Lifecycle and the Direction
of Intergenerational Transfers... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 5
1.5 Household Production and Non-market Transfers.... ..... .... 7
1.6 Concluding Remarks ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 9
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 10
2 Crafting Age-Specific National Accounts: National Transfer
Accounts Data and Methods for Italy .... .... .... .... ..... .... 13
2.1 Introduction ... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 13
2.2 An Overview of the National Transfer Accounts Approach . .... 15
2.3 National Transfer Accounts Age Profiles .. .... .... ..... .... 17
2.4 The Economic Lifecycle... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 18
2.5 Labor Income.. .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 19
2.6 Private Consumption. ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 20
2.6.1 Private Education Consumption ... .... .... ..... .... 21
2.6.2 Private Health Consumption .. .... .... .... ..... .... 21
2.6.3 Private Consumption Other Than Education
and Health... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 23
2.7 Public Consumption. ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 23
2.7.1 Public Education Consumption.... .... .... ..... .... 24
2.7.2 Public Health Consumption... .... .... .... ..... .... 25
2.8 The Public Intergenerational Reallocation System ... ..... .... 27
2.8.1 Public Transfers ... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 27
2.8.2 Public Asset-Based Reallocations .. .... .... ..... .... 29
vii
viii Contents
2.9 The Private Intergenerational Reallocation System... ..... .... 30
2.9.1 Inter-household Transfers .... .... .... .... ..... .... 30
2.9.2 Intra-household Transfers .... .... .... .... ..... .... 31
2.9.3 Private Asset-Based Reallocations.. .... .... ..... .... 33
2.10 Smoothing and Macro-Control Adjustments.... .... ..... .... 34
2.11 Concluding Remarks ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 35
Appendix: Aggregate Macro-values ... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 35
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 39
Statistical Sources.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 40
3 Age, Economy, and Welfare.... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 43
3.1 Introduction ... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 43
3.2 Consumption .. .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 45
3.2.1 Consumption by Institutional Sector
and Expenditure ... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 46
3.3 Labor Income.. .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 49
3.4 The Economic Lifecycle... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 50
3.5 The Public Intergenerational Reallocation System ... ..... .... 53
3.5.1 Public Transfer Inflows by Function.... .... ..... .... 54
3.6 The Private Intergenerational Reallocation System... ..... .... 57
3.7 How Italy Finances the Lifecycle Deficit .. .... .... ..... .... 58
3.8 Concluding Remarks ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 60
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 61
Statistical Sources.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 62
4 Women Work, Time Transfers, and Informal Welfare .. ..... .... 63
4.1 Introduction ... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 63
4.2 Building National Transfer Satellite Accounts for Gender .. .... 65
4.3 Time Use Data. .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 65
4.4 Selecting and Pricing Home Production Activities:
General Conceptual Issues . .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 67
4.5 Building the National Time Transfer Accounts.. .... ..... .... 68
4.5.1 Time Consumption . .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 69
4.5.2 Time Transfers .... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 70
4.6 National Transfer Accounts by Gender: Main Results ..... .... 70
4.6.1 Sex-Specific Age Profiles of Public and Private
Transfers.... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 72
4.7 National Time Transfer Accounts: Primary Results .. ..... .... 75
4.7.1 Household Production in Time Units ... .... ..... .... 77
4.8 Total Economy. .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 79
4.8.1 Reallocation System and Finance of Consumption .. .... 81
4.9 Concluding Remarks ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 84
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 85
Statistical Sources.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 86
Concluding Remarks ... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 87
Abbreviations
AGENTA AgeingEuropeAnapplicationofNationalTransferAccountsfor
explainingandprojectingtrendsinpublicfinances.Collaborative
project, 7th Framework Programme
COFOG Classification of the functions of government
COICOP Individual consumption according to the purpose
ESA European System of National Accounts
ESSPROSS European System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics
EU-SILC European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions
GDP Gross Domestic Product
HBS Household Budget Survey
HETUS Harmonised European Time Use Survey
INPS Italian National Institute of Social Insurance
Istat Italian National Institute of Statistics
LCD/LCS Life cycle deficit/surplus
MTUS Multinational Time Use Study
NPISH Households and nonprofit institutions serving households
NTA National Transfer Accounts
NTTA National Time Transfer Accounts
SHIW Survey on Household Income and Wealth
SNA System of National Accounts
UDB IT-SILC Italian survey on living conditions
ix
Introduction
How are we to define old age? Can we fix its boundaries in the context of an
ever-changing meaning of aging? What are the economic implications of an aging
society?Howcanwelfarestatesdealwithaging?Isanagingpopulationsustainable
in the long run? These are only some of the questions that arise from changing
demographic structures, which in recent years have been receiving increasing
attention from scholars, policymakers and society at large. From a demographic
perspective, population aging is a combination of increasing longevity and
declining fertility that changes the traditional balances in the population age
structure; it means not only that many people are living longer, but also that there
are fewer children and working age people.
Intergenerational relations are inherently relevant to aging societies and aspects
related to their equity and sustainability are becoming a major challenge for con-
temporary welfare states. A generational contract scenario has been hypothesized
byoptimists,whereasmorepessimisticviewspredictdifferentalarmingfuturesrife
with intergenerational conflict. Regardless of the position taken, the intergenera-
tional debate has focused on the public sector, whereas intergenerational transfers
across family members have long been disregarded, due to a lack of information
and economic data in this area. Noncash familial transfers in the form of unpaid
domestic work have been especially neglected, leading to an undervaluation of
women’scontributiontotheeconomy.Inrecentyears,thewomen’smovement,the
flourishingofcomparativewelfareliterature,andtheincreasingavailabilityoftime
usesurveyshavebroughtwiththemageneralawarenessthat“gendermatters”.The
existence of a gender contract has been explicitly recognized not only by scholars
but also by institutions at different levels. The societal and demographic changes
thathaveoccurredinrecentdecadescallforarethinkingofthegenerationalandthe
gender contracts on the basis of new social needs and risks.
There have been few attempts to date to analyze the intergenerational reallo-
cation system comprehensively and to integrate the gender perspective into the
analysis of intergenerational transfers in a systematic fashion. The National
Transfer Accounts (NTA, www.ntaccounts.org) project has worked to fill this gap
by developing a methodological framework to measure economic activities
xi