With election day looming, Angus Hanton, co-founder of IF, assesses the Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem party manifestos to check their intergenerational credentials
Whilst the Intergenerational Foundation is strictly non-party-political, this general election is more focused on issues of intergenerational fairness than any previous one.
All parties have acknowledged issues of intergenerational fairness and have adopted the language of fairness between generations. Areas such as pensions, the environment, taxation, social care costs and university tuition fees are all couched in terms of fairness between young and old.
Here we spotlight some relevant quotes, look at some keyword counts and compare the different parties’ positions on specific areas where there are concerns of fairness to younger generations.
1. Keyword indicators
How often a particular word is mentioned in each party’s manifesto
Party CON LAB LIB DEM
Keyword
Generations 25 2 3
Sustainable 19 14 21
Children 53 38 54
Housing 29 23 23
Interestingly some terms that used to dominate manifestos have almost dropped out of circulation completely this time round. Labour has made no mention of the words “unemployment” or “inflation” and the Conservatives make only a couple of passing references to these issues.
2. Intergenerational quotes
They talk the talk…
Conservatives:
“Solidarity which binds generations is under strain… we will restore the contract between the generations…”
Labour:
“Building a clean economy is the most important thing we must do for our children, grandchildren and future generations.”
Lib Dems:
“[We will] conduct a full scale review into the burden of taxation and spending between generations to… promote fairness between generations.”
3. Tuition fees
Conservatives – no change
Labour – abolish them asap
Lib Dems – reinstate maintenance grants and wholesale review of university financing
4. Votes at 16
Conservatives – no change
Labour – introduce voting at 16
Lib Dems – introduce voting at 16
5. Young people’s travel
Conservatives – no change in charges, but more investment in transport
Labour – no change in charges, but more investment in integrated transport
Lib Dems – introduce a two-thirds-off card for 16–21 year olds
6. Triple lock increases in the state pension
Conservatives – replace with a double lock (higher of wage increases or RPI)
Labour – maintain triple lock along with winter fuel allowance
Lib Dems – maintain triple lock and review tax relief on pensions
7. Housing benefit for 18–21 year olds
Conservatives – no change
Labour – reinstate it
Lib Dems – reinstate it
8. Downsizing (an increasing issue!)
Conservatives – build 250,000 new homes each year
Labour – increase options for downsizers in the private sector
Lib Dems – incentivise local councils to promote downsizing by council tenants
9. Funding social care
Conservatives – make older people pay more from their own resources so that younger people don’t have to pay for it, but allow older people to keep £100,000
Labour – continue government provision but funding to be by wealth tax, employer care tax or a “social care levy” on employees
Lib Dems – keep offering it from government but funding through a 1p increase in income tax and maybe later by an increase in National Insurance charges
10. Air quality
Conservatives – “action” against poor air quality in cities
Labour – meet legal obligations on air quality, and retrofit diesel buses to Euro6 standard and limit airport expansion
Lib Dems – create an air quality plan to prevent 40,000 deaths each year
11. Tenants
Conservatives – more security for good tenants and promote longer tenancies
Labour – introduce three-year, more secure tenancies and cap rent increases
Lib Dems – introduce three-year, stable tenancies
12. National debt
Conservatives – eliminate deficit (new borrowing) by 2025
Labour – reduce the national debt during the next parliament (over 5 years)
Lib Dems – new borrowing should be only for investment
13. Retirement age
Conservatives – continue to increase it with life expectancy increases
Labour – resist increases but look at a variable age to take account of how much people have put in and how hard their working life has been
Lib Dems – no mention at all
14. Unpaid internships
Conservatives – no mention
Labour – ban them
Lib Dems – discourage them through a “good employer” kitemark
Most surprising words
Conservative – “one-in-two-out rule” (about regulation)
Labour – “first dibs” (for local people about new homes)
Lib Dems – “ban neonicotinoids” (to protect bees)