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Previous studies of East Asian welfare regimes focus on similarities between social security schemes. In contrast, this paper explores cross-national variations in public–private pension mixes in six welfare states: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Our research echoes the pension policy analysis of international organisations but takes a step forward with emphasis on the historical and institutional characteristics of the respective pension systems. The analysis identifies three institutional patterns. First, the statist pension system (Taiwan and China) primarily relies on public pensions to provide old-age security, with private pensions playing a rather minor role. Second, in the dualist pension system (Japan and Korea) both public and private pensions work in parallel to ensure retirement income, though a clear security gap exists between workers in the formal and informal economies. Finally, the individualist pension system (Hong Kong and Singapore) is characterised by genuine fully funded individual accounts, emphasising citizens' own responsibilities for ensuring old-age security. These three types of pension systems demonstrate distinct institutional characteristics and policy outcomes, illustrated by the juxtaposition of their institutional structures as well as by the comparison of key indicators collected from government reports and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development statistics. The paper concludes with a theoretical reflection of East Asian pension policies and a diagnosis of the distinct challenges confronted by each of the various pension patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tremendous growth in the ageing population over the past two decades has compelled the Hong Kong government to reformulate its housing policy by redeveloping and incorporating certain age-friendly housing design elements and facilities into the public housing schemes built in the post-war period. This research investigates whether these introduced design elements and facilities satisfy the numerous special needs of the seniors in line with the concept of 'ageing in place'. Data were collected from 224 seniors through a comprehensive questionnaire survey in four large-scale redeveloped public rental housing estates. Using three designated built environment dimensions, namely micro, meso and macro, the results revealed that senior tenants were generally satisfied with the present living environments (in all the three scales) in the estates. At the micro-scale, seniors were satisfied with the level of privacy and sense of autonomy derived from the present design features in their homes. For the meso-scale, the study revealed that the seniors were particularly satisfied with the design elements such as convenient transportation and accessibility, including convenient walkways. At the macro-scale, the community care service is deemed important for seniors' wellbeing. However, more attention is needed on safety measures in interior and shower areas, public seating in common areas and provision of sufficient community care services. This study provides insights for policy makers and development authorities on elderly housing provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]