The IF Intergenerational Fairness Index represents the first attempt which has been undertaken in the UK to measure systematically the impact that government policies have had on the younger generation. By combining data on a range of variables stretching back to 2000, the IF Index enables us to demonstrate quantitatively that the position of young… Read more »
Archives
False Accounting? Why the government’s Higher Education reforms don’t add up
The Coalition government’s reforms to higher education funding in England have been enormously controversial ever since they were first announced. But why did the government decide to go down this path at all? In this groundbreaking research paper, written on behalf of IF by higher education expert Dr Andrew McGettigan, he argues that the main… Read more »
Are Government Pensions Unfair on the Younger Generation?
In this report, IF calls attention to the massive unfunded liabilities for public sector pensions which successive governments have placed on the shoulders of future generations. These are currently worth an eye-watering £1.2 trillion, which is the equivalent of £45,000 per UK household, and no money is being put aside to pay them –… Read more »
The Rise of Gerontocracy? Addressing the Intergenerational Democratic Deficit
What implications does the ageing of the population have for Britain’s democracy? This powerfully-argued study, written by ageing-issues expert Dr Craig Berry on behalf of IF, analyses data on demography and voting patterns to present the case that our democracy is at serious risk of being undermined as a growing elderly population exerts more and… Read more »
Understanding Downsizing
Why have the rates of downsizing stagnated in Britain compared to other ageing countries? As a companion-piece to our previous study, Hoarding of Housing: the intergenerational crisis in the housing market, IF decided to investigate which factors are likely to encourage an elderly household to downsize, and why in many cases they end up not… Read more »
The Private Finance Initiative and Intergenerational Equity
Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deals have rapidly proliferated since they were first introduced in autumn 1991 as a means of bringing private sector finance and expertise into public sector asset procurement. There are now estimated to be around 860 active PFI projects in the UK, and the country’s total PFI liabilities to the taxpayer have… Read more »
Public Opinion Research into Attitudes on Future Generations
How concerned is the public about future generations? IF – working alongside the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development – attempted to answer this question using opinion polling undertaken by Ipsos MORI which gathered views from a representative sample of 989 UK adults. The results showed that the UK public is far more concerned about… Read more »
Hoarding of Housing: the intergenerational crisis in the housing market
In this research study – undertaken on behalf of IF by housing expert Matt Griffith – IF calls for a new approach to try to solve the housing crisis facing young people. Britain has a national shortage of good-quality, affordable housing. Most policy interventions in the housing market aim to either boost supply (which has… Read more »
The Poor Perception of Young People in the UK
How are young people in the UK viewed by the rest of society compared to their peers in other European countries? In order to investigate, IF has analysed data from the European Social Survey, a biennial poll which measures the social attitudes of 57,000 respondents across 29 European countries. The results give the striking impression… Read more »
A Small Number with Surprisingly Large Consequences: why the government choice of discount rate should interest everyone
How much will the pension promises which we are making today cost us in the future? In this fascinating new analysis, Angus Hanton argues that the government has been guilty of systematically undervaluing the cost of its pension liabilities towards public sector workers in order to avoid having to make difficult political decisions about how… Read more »