The focus of this research is on the analysis of social policy lessons for various countries based on the experience of other countries that have implemented a similar policy. I have recently done work on the partial privatization of social security in Latin America and in the UK and I am trying to draw lessons for other countries such as China, Russia, and the USA. The focus of this research is on the consequences of these reforms for vulnerable groups such as women and low-wage workers.
Williamson, John B. and Ce Shen. 2004. "Do Notional Defined Contribution Accounts Make Sense As Part of the Old-Age Security Mix for China?" Journal of Aging and Social Policy 16(4):39-57.
Williamson, John B. 2002. "Privatization of Social Security in the United Kingdom: Warning or Exemplar?" Journal of Aging Studies November 16(4):415-430.
Williamson, John B. 2001. "Privatizing Public Pension Systems: Lessons from Latin America." Journal of Aging Studies 15(3):285-302
Williamson, John B. and Fred C. Pampel. 1993. Old Age Security in Comparative Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press. (304 pp.). This book received special mention in the 1994 Alpha Sigma Nu National Book Award competition. This book was also subsequently translated into Chinese by the staff at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing and that version with a new introduction was published in 2002 by Law Press also in Beijing.
This project addresses two main questions: "Are families of color more or less integrated than White families?" and "Insofar as differences exist, what accounts for them: cultural values or structural circumstances?" These questions are at the core of two longstanding and recent debates about families and racedebates that I term the "disorganization versus superorganization debate" and the "culture versus structure debate." The focus is on Black and Latino/a families and address these debates using the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) data.
Sarkisian, Natalia, and Naomi Gerstel. 2004. �Kin Support Among Blacks and Whites: Race and Family Organization.� American Sociological Review, 69, December: 812-837.
Sarkisian, Natalia, Mariana Gerena, and Naomi Gerstel. (Revised and Resubmitted). Detecting Distinctions: Extended Family Integration among Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Whites. Family Relations.
Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson and Atlantic Philanthropy Foundations, this research examines the development of a workforce that is meeting the care needs of America�s increasing population of elderly, chronically ill and disabled people. Disproportionately immigrant workers and women of color, low-wage careworkers are often juggling the needs of their own families, here and abroad, while meeting the expectation that they �care about as well as care for� people in their care. Mixed-method research (quantitative and qualitative) includes 18 sites in Massachusetts and is projected to expand into New York City in 2006. Emerging themes that careworkers have identified as key include: respect, insufficient wages, race, workload and care quality, and tension between the needs of their families and the people in their care.