The Intergenerational Foundation (IF) has been established to promote fairness between generations, believing that each generation should pay its own way, which is not happening at present.
The Intergenerational Foundation believes that Britain’s policy-makers are more interested in helping the old than the young, or that at least is how it seems, suggesting that for decades now they have been offering benefits to the elderly and piling debts onto future generations.
The foundation evidences that today the over-45s hold 83% of the UK’s property wealth, of which 40% is held by the over-65s, whereas the under-35s hold just 5%. The IF states that too often government has ignored the long-term implications of its decisions in directing and shaping our dependence upon economic growth and material wealth partly driven by an encouragement to spend.
Whilst the Government attempts to rein in a vast public deficit, there are massive unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities, which stretch long into the future. The Intergenerational Foundation believes these ills are not just the result of a financial crisis but of much deeper failings in British policy-making and culture.
Affordable housing, well-paid jobs with prospects and fair taxes should be the basics of a well-balanced society and during the latter half of the 20th century most people grew to expect these as an entitlement associated with living in Britain.
In the 21st century, younger people can no longer expect such basic things in life. Today in Britain, 1.5 million people aged under 30 are unemployed, youth unemployment is rising and in the housing market the average age of a first-time buyer has risen to 37.
