Age insurance must become the norm
Britain needs to have a serious conversation about how to pay for social care. What it doesn’t need is Labour labelling the Tory plan a “dementia tax”, which it patently is not. This is a classic, nasty Left-wing tactic: call your opponent heartless, terrify the voters and try to make welfare reform so toxic that it becomes politically untouchable. Thankfully, Theresa May has the courage to take a stand on such an important issue. That said, what her manifesto proposes is only a temporary solution.
The financial problem our country faces is a good one to have: we are all living much longer than we used to. Some universal benefits are now unaffordable, which is why the Tories are right to want to means-test the winter fuel allowance – and we trust that our readers are generous enough to see that the neediest must take priority. The triple lock on state pension increases is also set to go, which shows that Mrs May, far from being a Red Tory, is taking decisions that her predecessor dodged. If the vast majority of pensioners stick with the Tories on June 8, as the polls suggest they will, that too will belie the claim that the elderly have no concern for inter-generational inequality.
Most older people also want to help their children by passing on their homes to them, which is why it is hypocritical of Labour to oppose the Tory social care policy while backing a hike in inheritance tax – an actual rather than pretend tax.
The Government is courageous and right to place an emphasis upon individuals and families taking as much responsibility for their own care as possible – and fostering a sense of responsibility for one’s relatives has to be the direction of travel. But we also need to find new ways of pooling risk that don’t rely on the state. There is no reason why the private sector cannot provide new insurance policies that pay for care if needed while allowing prudent contributors to retain their home, and thus leave something for their loved ones.
Britain must nurture a market in age insurance that will eventually become as second nature to users as auto-enrolment pension schemes. The principle is no different from purchasing contents insurance in case of fire or flood – but will require a revolution in cultural attitudes towards ageing and self-reliance that needs the full backing of the Government. Encouraging Britons to prepare for the slings and arrows of old age is an example of how the state can help people to help themselves.