Now in its fifth year, the 2016 Intergenerational Fairness Index reveals the continuing stagnation in the position of younger generations in the UK. Key drivers are pensions and government debt. Small improvements in the supply of housing are undermined by the continuing rise in cost – both of renting and buying. Low levels of investment… Read more »
Term: Papers
The Graduate Premium: manna, myth or plain mis-selling?
This paper challenges the £100,000 lifetime graduate earnings premium so often used by politicians to justify increasing fees for university courses, changing the terms and conditions, or increasing interest rates. A wide range of factors influence whether graduates are likely to receive an earnings premium (i.e. higher earnings than their non-university-educated peers). These include, amongst… Read more »
DB Pensions: Choking Hazard
This report looks at the cost of defined benefit (DB) or final salary pensions to UK companies and argues that DB pension payments are acting as a drag on businesses and preventing them from expanding, investing, paying their younger workers more, or paying more towards younger workers’ pensions. It means that there is intergenerational inequity… Read more »
Toxic Time Capsule: Why nuclear energy is an intergenerational issue
This paper argues that cancelling Hinkley Point C, dubbed “the most expensive building on Earth”, could save Britain at least £30-£40 billion. Written by Andrew Simms, for IF, the paper compares the cost of nuclear to the likely costs of alternative energy supplies from onshore wind and solar, and questions whether current policy-makers have the… Read more »
The IF European Intergenerational Fairness Index 2016
IF is grateful to the Open Society Initiative for Europe for their invaluable financial support, which funded the production of an interactive online tool that visualises the findings from this project. Try playing around with the data yourself! Has Europe let down its young? That is the question the Intergenerational Foundation (IF) strives to answer with the… Read more »
Unlocking England’s Hidden Homes
England’s housing crisis is receiving an increasing amount of attention from campaigners, the media and policy-makers, yet the obvious solution to addressing it – building more housing – still faces a range of seemingly intractable barriers. It seems clear that if the government is serious about reaching its target of building 1 million new… Read more »
The Rising Tide of Gerontocracy
This paper is the sequel to one of IF’s previous research projects The rise of gerontocracy? Addressing the intergenerational democratic deficit, which was published in April 2012. Dr Craig Berry of the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute has updated his analysis of voting habits among different age groups to show that the ageing of Britain’s… Read more »
Intergenerational Fairness Index 2015
This annual report reveals a 10% deterioration in the prospects of younger generations relative to older generations between 2010 and 2015 with a one point decline year on year between 2014 and 2015. The spike in the Index during the last government is attributed mostly to rising levels of government debt, the cost of the… Read more »
Should Young People Look North? The best places to live for young people
This report identifies the sweet spots in England where housing affordability and graduate job opportunities overlap. Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and Liverpool come top, while London loses out due to sky-high housing costs.
What are we leaving to our children?
We all know today’s young people face an uncertain future, with high housing costs, youth unemployment and government spending cuts weighing heavily on them. This paper goes beyond these short-term problems to look at the big question which is looming on the horizon: what will be the legacy of the current older generation to… Read more »