‘Silent generation’ get less from welfare state

PENSIONERS born before the Second World War are the biggest ‘losers’ from Britain’s welfare system, according to a report.

Successive generations have received more from the welfare system than they have paid in taxes.

But the so-called ‘silent generation’ – born between 1926 and 1945 – are on course to fare far worse than their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Those in their 90s will get only 5 per cent more from the State than they paid in taxes.

This is largely because many started paying tax just as the welfare state was created, under Clement Attlee’s Labour government at the end of the war. This included the creation of the NHS in 1948.

Those born between 1936 and 1940 helped to pay for more generous education provision than they received, as well as paying higher taxes to fund pensions and health care of older generations.

According to the Resolution Foundation think-tank report, these two factors ‘almost entirely offset the more generous pension and health provision the silent generation experience themselves’.

Their children have had a much better deal.

Baby boomers born after the war have been the biggest beneficiaries from the welfare state, and are set to receive over 20 per cent more in support than they will contribute in taxes over their lives.

The report concluded: ‘The baby boomers have been the winners and the silent generation the losers from generational burden sharing as the welfare state has expanded.’

The ‘silent generation’ is so-called because its members tended to stick to the rules and work hard instead of speaking out to bring about social change.

Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann said the findings highlighted that the ‘most elderly people in society are not being taken care of’.

But the prospects for younger generations are also ‘uncertain’, according to the report It warned the pressure on welfare spending will grow sharply from the early 2020s as ‘the large baby boomer population hits retirement’.

The report described this situation as ‘unsustainable’.