Several weeks ago, I looked at what impact an ageing society would have on the economy and broader community.
The big one will be the clash between the boomers who have basically cashed in on their kids' inheritance and the younger generations. There are signs of it happening already with British conservative politicians David Willetts saying the pension age should be extended so that younger people are not left picking up the bill.
It's a point examined in more detail in The Economist.
Examining Willett's book, it makes the point that boomers have all the wealth.
"Young people have little chance of building up similar wealth. They are struggling to get on the housing ladder, though close to a fifth of people between 50 and 59 years old own a second home. Jobs for the young were getting scarcer even before the crash. Yet more and more older people are working and earning more, relative to young workers, than before. On top of this, older baby-boomers have dodged two speeding bullets, leaving their descendants squarely in the line of fire. The first is the bill for bailing out the financial sector; the second, the effect of climate change on the cost of energy, water, flood-prevention and the like."
This is likely to become an increasing issue as the boomers become older and more frail. Sooner or later, Gen X and Gen Y might call in the debts. And if that happens, it might get ugly.
I resent the cashed-in-on-their-inheritance theme, as if all baby boomers are self-centered greed-heads who are looting the country for our own benefit.
How about 40+ years of hard work and paying taxes, not to mention setting up our children with educations and housing help?