Turning ‘intergenerational fairness’ into progressive policy

This FEPS and SPERI policy brief makes a set of recommendations to what might loosely be termed “progressive” political movements. That is, it considers the options available to groups and organisations that wish to renew the social contract for younger and future generations, without that attempt being diverted into the zero-sum politics of austerity.

The brief’s central argument is that progressives need to develop an analysis that connects a structural understanding of the problem with a set of policies that target the underlying causes of generational inequality, not just its most recent symptoms. This means getting to grips with the possibilities for redistribution between age groups, and the ways in which intergenerational inequalities relate to other kinds of inequality. It is not enough to jump on the bandwagon of intergenerational fairness without confronting its more difficult implications. As such, this brief makes three recommendations about how progressives should approach the politics of intergenerational fairness, before highlighting four policy areas in which they might look for progressive solutions.

Read more about the FEPS-SPERI Project Millennials VS Babyboomers: Baby Boomers vs Millennials and the new politics of intergenerational fairness