UNIVERSALITY OR SELECTIVITY IN INCOME SUPPORT TO OLDER-PEOPLE - A COMPARATIVE-ASSESSMENT OF THE ISSUES

This article reviews the issues involved in policy choices with respec t to universality and selectivity in income support to older people. I t considers four questions: the practical meaning of universality and selectivity in the income support systems of various countries, the ef fectiveness of universal and selective arrangements in the alleviation of poverty among this group, the role of universal and selective arra ngements in redistributing income among elderly people and the relativ e generosity of universal and selective arrangements, The article draw s on data from the 'second wave' of the Luxembourg Income Study for si x countries: Australia, (West) Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kin gdom and the United States, concerning the incomes of elderly couples and single (non-married) women. It concludes that while selective inco me support arrangements achieve greater redistribution in favour of Bo w income elderly people for the same expenditure than do universal one s, selective arrangements do not necessarily perform better in other r espects, and, in particular, are associated with low levels of benefit income.