“According to Julia Isaacs of the Brookings Institution, the (U.S.) federal government now spends $7 on the elderly for every $1 it spends on children.”
(Source: NY Times, 2/2/10)
9 thoughts on “Factoid of the day: Generational divide”
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Wow! This is alarming! The children are our future.
Iyabo
I know this isn’t why you shared this, Dan, however this tells me that I should teach my children to not rely on the government
@Hashim — No, that wasn’t the reason. But yours is still good advice.
I wonder if those numbers are adjusted for the number of children versus number of elderly. Also, what defines children and elderly. I try not to get too alarmed when I see statistics like this, until I understand the backup.
Although, I have to admit – I am somewhat alarmed.
Yes, well, the elderly have sent the government infinite dollars for every dollar children have sent the government.
This is, of course, the result of a growing elderly population and financial systems that were built for a earlier world where people didn’t live as long.
So how to close the generational divide? If, Dan, as you discuss in Drive, we create a more intrinsically motivated workforce that doesn’t need to rely on a boss to be told what to do and when and where and how, might we also instill more self-reliance (as Hashim suggests) when it comes to planning for a financial future? Maybe that’s an ideal we should work towards.
I think the generational divide will being to close as all ages get away from traditional ideas of work. People may not retire, but they won’t be working themselves to death either, ideally they won’t be stuck in underemployed drudgery in the first place.
I think our culture, since it is more dominated by seniors now, should reflect more older people in film,literature, advertising, etc. [I don’t mean sad drug ads and other ‘decay-implying’ stuff that already exists.] I think this cultural attitude change towards age could get the wheels turning in altering overall attitudes about quality of life, seniors relevance to the rest of culture and society, quality of life and how long that quality of life can last. I would think that $7 from the govt. would decrease. (Just my opinion.)
[Several northeast cities have created programs for seniors to “work” off their property tax burden. Getting that alternative for payment was great, but it was also personally rewarding for some of the participants as opposed to being stuck at home on a limited income with moderate to minimal human interaction. ‘Some programs have existed since the 1980s, but they’ve gotten much more use in the last decade. ]
Teaching self-reliance is a good idea as well. The children of today, if they are old enough to notice, are taking away their own observations and lessons about the world recession and what it’s done to their family.
I heard once that 80% of a person’s health care costs occur in the final 2 years of his or her life. With Healthcare costs continuing to rise, I have to believe that this gap will continue.
I think that is going to increase by a factor of about 10, to $70. Social Security and Medicare already owe trillions of dollars. And, the costs are going to increase due to 2 factors:
1. Americans will be living longer and longer
2. The cost of care will increase massively as new technology is developed and provides treatment for elderly people