We vote for the future of our countries or the European Union and we seek the participation of young people in the electoral process. But they are not so consistent in their turnout at the polls. The result; the group of older voters is becoming increasingly powerful. And a modern Western democracy cannot afford to ignore their demands.
Older voters not only have higher turnout rates than younger voters, but they also make up a growing share of the electorate as Western societies age rapidly. As a result, political parties in many countries are committed to protecting retirees’ incomes, focusing on their health coverage, but also pursuing a security-focused agenda. Older voters are often more concerned than younger voters about crime and immigration, and are less likely to support environmental initiatives.
Priority for pensioners
The promises made in Britain, which goes to the polls on Thursday, are typical. As the Wall Street Journal reports, all major parties have backed a guarantee that state pensions will rise at a rate higher than inflation. Last year, these pensions rose by 10.1%, while the average salary of workers aged 19 to 49 rose by 5.7%. This year, pensioners are set to receive another 8.1% increase.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is trailing in the polls, has also promised pensioners a tax cut. For young people, he has proposed compulsory service – a year in the army or voluntary work. This plan is deeply unpopular among young people but has high approval ratings among people over 55. In France, raising pension caps was one of the policies that caused Macron’s popularity to collapse and his party to suffer a heavy defeat in the first round of parliamentary elections.
But voters in the US are also concerned about the age of the two presidential candidates. But they are not at all concerned about whether their policies favor older people. Biden is 81, Trump is 78, and the average age of senators in Congress is 65.3.
Demographic changes
Demographic changes and increasing longevity mean that older voters will make up an increasingly large proportion of the electorate in many countries. The Netherlands, Norway and Croatia are just some of the European countries where there are now political parties whose main objective is to defend the interests of retirees.
In Britain in the early 1980s, there were nearly twice as many registered voters under 40 as over 60. Now, the over-60s make up the same proportion as the under-40s. There are more over-60s for every under-40s, according to Zach Grant, a researcher at the Nuffield Politics Research Centre at the University of Oxford who has analyzed British electoral data.
The voting power of the over-60s surpassed that of the under-40s as early as 2010. Thus, in Britain, by 2028, total spending on state pensions is expected to exceed spending on defence, education and policing combined, according to UKOnward, a London-based think tank. “Our country is committed to favouring the old over the young,” said David Willets, a former cabinet minister. “The old… have the money and the power.”
Reduction of the age limit to 16 as compensation
The Labour Party, which is expected to win the election, is slightly behind the elderly and winning overwhelmingly among the young. So it wants to lower the voting age to 16, partly to offset the growing influence of older voters. Germany recently lowered the voting age to 16. And that, of course, has its risks. The European elections and the recent elections in France have shown that young people are increasingly fascinated by the far right.