Paying for Ageing: Decision time for households and the state

November 26, 2012

A comprehensive analysis of the choices for households and the state as both consider how to pay for ageing. 

Paying for ageing poses a challenge for both older households and the state.

However, these challenges are highly interdependent. Policy decisions around state support to pensioners will determine the choices for older households, and the adequacy of their retirement income and ‘protection gap’ they face.

Conversely, the ‘decumulation’ decisions of older households will determine the size and shape of the fiscal challenge facing policymakers as the population ages.

This report therefore takes the unique approach of situating the options for households and policymakers in paying for ageing side-by-side.

It evaluates the full range of these options for households and the state, as well as potential ‘joint strategies’ requiring careful coordination of government policy and the decumulation framework for households.

The report concludes with ten key recommendations for policymakers, including:

  • All public spending on older people needs a cross-departmental ‘holistic review’;
  • Fiscal policymaking must not be allowed to crowd out sensible policies on ageing;
  • An Office for Evidence on Prevention should be created as a commissioner, laboratory and proponent of preventative strategies across all age-related public spending;
  • Make long-term decisions now: fixing a strategy for paying for ageing can no longer be deferred and older households deserve clarity

Author: James Lloyd, Strategic Society Centre

Download the report: Paying for Ageing: Decision time for households and the state

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