The politics of ageing: how to get policymakers to support lifecourse policies.

摘要: Background: Given that there is not much evidence that ageing imperils the finance and provision of health care, why do so many policymakers act like it does? Methods: We break conventional wisdom down into myths and realities, identifying the evidence against them. Results: A first myth is that ageing produces unsustainable health care costs, which in turn, creates intergenerational conflict over public policy. A second myth is that older people behave as a single group, always pursuing policies that benefit themselves. The final myth is that decisions about policy are made by politicians who pander to that elderly block. The first reality is that most of the problems ascribed to inequality between generations (intergenerational equity) are actually problems of inequality within society as a whole that span across age groups (intragenerational equity). The second reality is that policies that address these broader …