What Intergenerational Conflict?
Thursday 25th May – 08:30-09.30
52 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2FD
In the years following the global financial crisis, Intergenerational conflict has been thrust into the centre of public and political debates, with general elections, the EU Referendum, student fees and the housing crisis all routinely viewed through the prism of age and generation.
“Conditions have deteriorated for children and improved dramatically for the elderly, and demographic change has been intimately involved in these developments.”
This quote is taken from a seminal 1984 paper by the demographer Samuel Preston but it remains as relevant now as it was then. It illustrates the nature of intergenerational conflict as omnipresent; not a new form of conflict, but an ongoing one which ebbs and flows, with nuanced changes across time.
That inequity that exists across generational cohorts does not necessarily mean that age is driving these inequalities, with other sociodemographic issues such as race, religion, wealth and class, driving inequalities across society in which age is a matter of correlation, not causation.
Intergenerational conflict is defined as “the collective tension, strain, and antagonism between older and younger generations over what constitutes the fair distribution of public resources across age groups.” Increased deregulation and privatisation, however, mean that once public resources are increasingly dispensed by private, profit-generating organisations, and so while generational cohort will continue to play a role in inequality, it is perhaps not the driving factor in dividing the haves and the have nots.
These issues are the tip of the iceberg in this debate and at our next Trends Breakfast on 25th May we will delve deeper to provide a better understanding of intergenerational conflict; does it exist? If so, how, and how are different generations affected?
Join us for what is sure to be a fascinating discussion on age, demographics and inequality, as we explore intergenerational conflict.
Our Trends Breakfasts have been running for over three years, and each month sees a different topic discussed and debated over coffee and croissants. Taking place in the private room of a popular city location, an array of figures from different industries hear our thoughts on the chosen topic, which often draws on latest findings from our global attitudes and values survey, Trajectory Global Foresight.
Please get in touch (info@trajectorypartnership.com) to reserve your place for free and join us for breakfast!