Family Matters: Public Policy and the Interdependence of Generations
Trying to avoid a generational fight over resources, Generations United
emphasizes the ways in which grandparents and grandchildren depend on
each other – and recommends focusing on policies that help generations
help each other, and strengthen the economy. The report includes the results of a new public opinion survey on the current state of intergenerational interdependence and makes recommendations for public policy strategies that value and engage all generations.
Are politicians pitting the generations against each other for political gain?
And is there a better way?
This current debate implies that policymaking involves a choice between programs for older adults and those that benefit children and then goes on to paint one generation - typically the elderly - as selfish and self-serving. This position is divisive and hurtful, but mostly, it is false. It is aimed at fragmenting support for programs with longer-term goals that invest in people, such as Social Security and Head Start, to protect unsustainable tax policies and uncontrolled spending. It is not, at its heart, an economic argument, but a calculated political one.
All I can say is, I worked for my Social Security and that contribution should not be called into question or "downsized." I'm already downsized enough, living on $745/month as creatively as I can. You try it! I've had an unfortunate series of illnesses and accidents in the last 9 months to boot--first, an 8 week flu (H1N1--my doc didn't check), then fell and ruptured a disc and tore ligaments at hip joint, then fell off a scooter and had a 4 months long knee infection!!!! If it weren't for Medicare and Social Security, I'd probably have contemplated taking my own life just to remove myself from the general ills of life. I have no one--no parents or siblings or other relatives--to help. It's just me. So if you're thinking of downsizing me, well go ahead. I might just decide not to be here!