Young people are a loss-maker for welfare state

The elderly foot the bill while the young reap the benefits – one of the main conclusions of the latest Economic Review by the wise men of the economy, which shows how young people under 30 will receive far more from the welfare state, in the form of student grants, childcare, unemployment benefits, pensions, and other social help, than they pay in tax over a lifetime, reports seven59.dk and business.dk.

On the other hand, those over 30 lose out – they will pay more to the public sector than they get back.

Older generations, born in the 50’s and reaching pension age today, are the ‘locomotives’ of the welfare state today, having ‘deposited’ DKK 500,000 more with the state than they’ve claimed back. The figure shrinks until the mid-80’s and becomes negative for those born after 1984, who will receive around DKK 400,000 more in social expenditure than they pay in.

Despite the fact that anyone under 30 in this country will get more money back from the state during a lifetime than they pay in, the wise men still believe that public finances are sustainable in the long run, with general parity between income and expenditure, as the elderly will continue to be a net gain for the state – at least for a few years.

See the full Danish article on business.dk here.

universitypost@adm.ku.dk

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