Attitudes towards Australia’s baby boomers and intergenerational equity

Abstract

Australia’s Intergenerational Reports (2010, 2015) make a case for restraining public expenditure on an ageing population given the sizeable post-WWII baby boom cohort, increasing longevity, and uncertain economic prospects for younger generations. There also is concern for major disparities within older and younger generations resulting from cumulative advantages or disadvantages over the life course. Drawing on national survey data from the Attitudes to Ageing in Australia study, this article investigates perceptions of inequity between age cohorts at two time points (2009–10, 2015–17) focusing on variations by age and gender around lifelong opportunities for baby boomers compared to other groups, share of government benefits, and support for increasing pension age eligibility. The findings indicate a shift in attitudes between 2009–10 and 2015–17 with more in the younger cohorts in 2015–17 reporting better lifelong opportunities for baby boomers; and baby boomers receiving a fair share/more than a fair share of government benefits. With pension age eligibility, there is a small but significant shift in attitudes supporting the increase and a corresponding drop in those opposing it, however opposition is highly gendered with more women in each of the age cohorts opposing it at both time points. While there is a perceptible shift in younger cohorts’ attitudes towards baby boomers’ perceived advantages, overall attitudes are not totally supportive of government arguments for expenditure restraint; although a more overt public discourse on intergenerational inequity is emerging as the declining life prospects of younger cohorts are juxtaposed with tax-advantaged housing and retirement wealth of many older age Australians.

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“…Rather than acknowledging the changing social and economic lives of young people, the Boomer group emphasised a diminishing culture of hard work and delayed gratification as central drivers for declining home ownership among young people. This finding is consistent with Australian research by O'Loughlin et al (2021), which found that across two time points -2009/2010, 2015-2017 -older cohorts, and particularly baby boomers, were likely to believe that they received less than their fair share of government benefits (O'Loughlin et al, 2021).…”

“…This is despite some evidence of real reductions in the prospects of younger cohorts in key areas, such as employment transitions and housing, relative to previous cohorts. While some older Australians face financial peril, with class and gender differences remaining substantial, the baby boomer cohort has on average benefited through policy shifts in taxation and housing policy that have favoured their cohort (O'Loughlin et al, 2021).…”