Census 2021: An Ageing Society

Sylvan Lutz, IF researcher, analyses the latest England and Wales census population data released. Ageing population Census 2021 has confirmed what demographers have long been warning: the population of England and Wales is ageing. On the one hand, a miracle of modern society has led to longer lifespans; on the other, slowing birth rates alleviate… Read more »

The loneliness epidemic: mental health, young people and intergenerational inequality

Loneliness is the theme of this year’s #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek. Liz Emerson, IF Co-founder, lays out IF’s research into young people’s loneliness and explains why greater investment in earlier mental health interventions is needed. A decade in the making For more than a decade the Intergenerational Foundation (IF) has researched the plight of young people. In 9… Read more »

Two years of COVID-19: the pandemic, young people and what next?

Almost two years have passed since COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency by the WHO. IF’s digital campaigns officer Liam Hill analyses how the pandemic, the lockdowns and other restrictions have affected young people in the UK, and asks what can be done to address the issues they face. Two years of turmoil It… Read more »

The social care cap and the intergenerational contract

On 7 September 2021, the government announced reforms to the social care system in order to provide more support to people with fewer financial resources. A recent announcement on 17 November 2021 casts doubt on whether these reforms will be worth the costs borne by younger generations. John Hobby, IF researcher, investigates whether this is… Read more »

National Insurance: young people and lower earners hit the hardest

Yesterday, MPs voted to approve raising employees’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) by 1.25 percentage points, breaking a key manifesto promise not to raise taxes. While the government marketed the rise as “progressive”, in reality it is an intergenerationally unfair tax reform which will affect younger generations the most. Lizzie Simpson, IF Researcher, explains. A regressive… Read more »

Freedom and injustice in the time of coronavirus

Last week, the majority of COVID-19 restrictions in England were removed, marking the biggest return to “normality” that we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic. However, this does not mean the end of restrictions for everybody, as IF Researcher, Lizzie Simpson, discusses how the new settlement affects younger people differently, and how this… Read more »

Mental health and the COVID–19 “syndemic” in Chile

In their contribution to our annual Worldwide Intergenerational Fairness Blog Week, community psychologists and mental health researchers from Chile, María José Campero Rauld and Antonia Rosati Bustamante outline the state of mental health in Chile before and throughout the COVID–19 crisis, which they argue is better described as a “syndemic” than a pandemic. They also… Read more »

Improving India’s record on child mental health

In this contribution to IF’s Worldwide Intergenerational Fairness Blog Week, Aarthi Ratnam, a mental health campaigner, explains why India’s understanding of, and investment in, child mental health must change post-COVID-19 Child mental health Being mentally healthy during childhood means reaching emotional and developmental milestones. It allows children to have a positive quality of life, maintain… Read more »