One of the main reasons for the growing political importance of the old is the voting behaviour of the young. The overall fall in voter turnout is due largely to a drop in voting among young people. The old have gone on reliably turning out at the polls. As a result pensioners, who represent 24% of the voting-age population, accounted for 35% of votes at the last election. At the next one, the figure is likely to be 40%.
The growing clout of the old helps explain the way some issues have come to the fore recently. The state of the UK’s National Health Service (used disproportionately by the old) and crime, especially by very young people, have been forced up the political agenda. There is one issue that dwarfs all others: Pensions.
The number of UK pensioners will increase by 50% over the next 40 years. Yet the government is forecasting that state pension benefits will creep up over that period from 5.0% of GDP today to 5.7%. Looks like our politicians need to look again at their calculations.
It will be interesting to see if the increased political focus, with the ensuing media coverage, on pensioners will have a cross over to the commercial world in raising the profile of the importance of the older age group. Time will tell. Dick Stroud: www.20plus30.com
Pension and Voters
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