ABSTRACT

In present economic turmoil, the acute economic needs of a young and vulnerable section of the population needs to be balanced with increasing costs of old-age welfare provisions. The consequence of this political exercise regards the question whether the intergenerational social contract is under pressure. Particularly in public policy, the concern has grown that younger age cohorts are less likely to contribute to elderly welfare provisions, whereas similar concerns arise that the older cohorts are more negative towards welfare provisions that benefit young and active sections of the populations. Although previous studies contradict such ‘age war’ in welfare opinions, less is known which mechanisms drive such gaps between the young and the old, as well as why these cleavages are larger in some societies than in others. An analysis of the ‘Welfare Attitudes’ module of the 2008 European Social Survey confirms that small yet meaningful age gaps in opinions about elderly welfare provisions and childcare services exist. Yet, these gaps can largely be explained by the opinions of younger respondents who are less inclined to support welfare redistribution at large. While the age gap in elderly welfare spending is less context dependent, the elderly are more opposed to childcare provisions in wealthy societies.

Keywords: Solidarity, social contract, generations, civil rights, public opinion

INTRODUCTION

Whether intergenerational solidarity from the young to the old is under pressure worries many European governments. This concern is mainly inspired by increasing welfare expenses due to population ageing, which are carried disproportionately by a decreasing active share of the population. Such inequity could eventually lead to a break of the social contract that spans generations (Bengtson & Achenbaum, 1993; Esping-Andersen & Sarasa, 2002). This worry is further exacerbated by the belief that modernisation has eroded general feelings of solidarity, especially between age groups (Popenoe, 1988). Present economic turmoil sharpens age specific welfare demands even more, as in many European countries faced with deficits the share of young people in economic insecurity is on the rise, sparking the attention of many to the challenge of balancing the interests and needs of diff erent generations.

To evaluate tensions in the intergenerational social contract, there is a strand of studies that address the issue on the basis of public opinion surveys that ask about people's attitudes towards welfare provision for the elderly (Busemeyer et al., 2008; Kohli, 2006).