The Generation Game

The increasingly frequent and disparaging comments in the right wing press about the older generation are now infecting worthwhile newspapers of the centre-left. They peddle the austerity-based argument that older people are scarcely touched by the recession and are becoming an increasing burden on other generations.
Having given the impression before the general election of being on the side of pensioners, the coalition parties are now looking for ways to minimise this clear commitment and maximise clawback. Witness the attempted redefining of the retail price index to give lower values and consequent lower upratings despite the fact that generally the effective rate of inflation for pensioners is well above the average figure. Furthermore, there is the talk about cutting winter fuel allowances, travel passes and free television licenses (for the very elderly) for supposedly ‘better off’ pensioners.
All this as if current and soon-to-be pensioners were not contributing substantially already. All pensioners with savings – so most of this generation - have been severely hit by the artificially cut and sustained minuscule interest rates losing hundreds or thousands of pounds in interest income every year. And annuity values for those coming up for retirement have also tanked as another consequence of the nailing down of interest rates and the policy of ‘quantitative easing’.
There is also the practice of the financial cartel that I’m afraid also includes many building societies as well as the banks of slicing away even further at interest rates on ISAs so that there’s now hardly any benefit from the tax-free nature of these investments. This along with the miserly rates deliberately applied when bonds mature which is another example of the punishment of loyalty. So another big thank-you to our wonderful financial services ‘industry’.
All of this represents a massive transfer from the older generation to those much younger people (and many not so young) who have mortgages and also to those who have run up debts either just to survive (both these cases understandable) or because of ‘must have’ profligacy (not acceptable).
How much longer the pensioner generation can continue supporting the deeply indebted generations to this considerable extent is unclear, but no doubt this patient generation who raised families and did things by the book will soldier on and reflect on all that was built up by them prior to the modern curses of globalisation, privatisation, corporate greed and tax dodging, exploitative pricing and the thoroughly discredited economics of austerity.
Despite these many adverse factors this is not to say that nothing can ever be touched. For example I for one would support the idea of winter fuel payments being taxable so that those eking out small pensions would continue to get the full amount. Similarly, bus passes and television licenses for the very elderly could remain free for those on low incomes and be counted as income in kind and incur a tax liability at graduated rates for those who have been able better to provided for themselves.
This would be all the more palatable if the feral rich were made to pay their fair share in ways that I have indicated in earlier postings. Then for goodness sake let’s invest the money so generated in public works to get things moving again and provide jobs for the young – so much better than financial devices that get siphoned off by the banks.
Leaving aside this wretched government's blatant favouritism towards the outrageously wealthy, big business and those that fund their politics, there is still a sense in which most of us are in this together right across the generations. Taking the long view also involves a look at the past and the near present - especially the last few years - as well as projected futures.
So let’s have an end to spiteful comments about the older generation and understand that we have, over the years, built up a mutually supportive society – something that’s going to be needed as the age of austerity is dragged on by the misconceived policies of this government and now apparently to be followed by the next.