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- Title
The politics of ageing: how to get policymakers to support lifecourse policies.
- Authors
Falkenbach, M.; Greer, S.; Lynch, J.; Gingrich, J.; Reeves, A.; Bambra, C.; Cylus, J.
- Abstract
Background: Given that there is not much evidence that ageing imperils the finance and provision of health care, why do so many policymakers act like it does? Methods: We break conventional wisdom down into myths and realities, identifying the evidence against them. Results: A first myth is that ageing produces unsustainable health care costs, which in turn, creates intergenerational conflict over public policy. A second myth is that older people behave as a single group, always pursuing policies that benefit themselves. The final myth is that decisions about policy are made by politicians who pander to that elderly block. The first reality is that most of the problems ascribed to inequality between generations (intergenerational equity) are actually problems of inequality within society as a whole that span across age groups (intragenerational equity). The second reality is that policies that address these broader inequalities are built on the lifecourse perspective, which focuses on identifying the policies which can make people happier and healthier at all ages by drawing on the context and circumstances under which aging occurs. The third reality is that it is possible to construct coalitions of politicians and interests that can develop and support sophisticated life-course policies that lessen the burdens of ageing and health on everybody. Conclusions: Intergenerational inequality is not, and need not be, a significant problem for rich countries. It is substantially a product of current and past intragenerational inequality, and in fact inequality between generations often goes with inequality within generations. Intergenerational conflict is a distraction from policies that promote greater equality within and between generations, and talk of an ageing crisis is frequently just another version of longstanding arguments against public social investment from cradle to grave.
- Subjects
HEALTH policy; PRACTICAL politics; MEDICAL care costs; CONFERENCES &; conventions; AGING; ELDER care
- Publication
European Journal of Public Health, 2021, Vol 31, piii213
- ISSN
1101-1262
- Publication type
Article