Old and young together

14 October 2004 By Edward Hadas

Sure, the increasing number of old people is causing a funding problem. But the number of kids is shrinking. So the overall "dependency ratio" will only rise a little. What’s more, it’s reasonable to expect old people to work a bit longer.

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The Pensions Commission presented its first report Tuesday. A second report, with policy recommendations, will be presented late in 2005, that is after the next election.

The report presented four alternative responses to the increasing proportion of old people in the country – pensioners becoming poorer relative to the rest of society; taxes/national insurance contributions devoted to pensions rising, savings rising, or average retirement ages rising. It suggested that the best solution involves combination of the last three.

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