Following the lead of Germany and potentially the UK, if recent opinion polls are to be believed, France has moved to the right. In what some are calling its ‘second revolution’, Nicolas Sarkozy, a slick media operator promising a shake-up of the economy and a tough stance on crime and immigration has taken the presidency.
Demographics have had a large part to play in his victory. Sarkozy won by an ‘elderly landslide’ – 61 per cent of voters in their 60s and 68 per cent of the over-70s chose the conservative candidate over Ségolène Royal. In contrast 58 per cent of voters aged 18-24 preferred his socialist rival.
In the UK David Cameron’s conservative party is scoring highly with older voters, which bodes well for its future – a poll by Age Concern and ICM estimates that the under 25s will only account for between six and eight per cent of voters in the next few UK general elections, whereas the over 55s could account for over half of all votes cast by 2025.
Does an ageing and more politically astute population mean further focus on older voters at election time? And what does this mean for the political priorities of the future? The Guardian’s Stuart Jeffrey’s sees the result of France’s election as “a marvellous example of Gallic hypocrisy” on behalf of the comfortable older generation.
As younger generations gear up to bear an aging population and the impact of climate change, the Australian Government is preparing for an election by offering a raft of vote-winning measures, among them significant tax cuts to higher earners and bonuses for older voters.
Is this a symptom of what UK economics journalist Faisal Islam sees as the “great generational robbery”? Echoing former Australian Reserve Bank Governor Ian MacFarlane, who warned of inter-generational conflict back in 2003, Islam argues that the 50+ generation, who have benefited most from the upturn of the past economic cycle are looking forward to early retirement on pension and property windfalls, while leaving younger generations exposed to high house prices, education debts and job insecurity as well as the pressure of climate change and a global ageing population. True, some boomers are supporting the younger generation, but not everyone will be able to turn to the bank of Mum and Dad.
These global uncertainties may be why we should forget Gen X and Y – current under 35s may be remembered as the IPOD generation – “insecure, pressured, overtaxed and debt-ridden”.
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