Introduction
When it comes to social spending aimed at older people versus spending that benefits children and young adults, our society is torn between competing agendas. On the one hand, elderly people have contributed to society throughout their lives and have a right to a comfortable and respectable old age. On the other hand, youth and children represent our society’s future, and investing in them can result in a more prosperous and long-lasting future.
Conflicting Interests in Social Spending
Compared to spending on children and young people, social spending on the elderly is substantially higher. Several programs, including Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, intended to support the elderly, reflect this disparity (Gál et al.). This gap is explained by the fact that elderly individuals are more vulnerable and need more help with basic requirements like shelter, healthcare, and food. Furthermore, seniors frequently contributed to these programs throughout their working lives, making them eligible for benefits in their golden years.
Nevertheless, the sustainability of these programs over the long run is called into doubt by this strategy. The cost of these services will keep rising as the population ages and life expectancies rise, burdening future generations that must pay for them (Gál et al.). This is especially worrying because many nations are seeing declining birth rates, which will result primarily in an elderly population with fewer young people to support them.
Meanwhile, youngsters are frequently considered to be a future investment. An educated and in good-health workforce can contribute to future economic growth by investing in early childhood education, healthcare, and other types of support (Gál et al.). However, because they are not considered an immediate priority, spending on these programs is frequently lower than that for the elderly.
Personal Opinion on the Current Balance
The existing balance between social spending on the elderly and that for children and young people is reasonable and strikes a wise but unjust balance, in my opinion. While it is crucial to support the elderly, we must also invest in our society’s future. The current disparity is driven mainly by decreased birth rates in most Western countries. If we do not solve the current disparity immediately, it could cause issues in the long run.
Ways to Change the Situation
The existing allocation of money to programs that benefit the elderly could be changed to initiatives that benefit children and young people as one potential alternative. This can entail increasing financing for child healthcare, after-school programs, and early childhood education. This would contribute to a brighter future and take care of the urgent needs of children and young people, who are sometimes forgotten.
Another option is reassessing the qualifications needed to participate in social expenditure programs (Gál et al., 2018). This would entail assessing whether benefits reach the people who need them most and ensuring the programs are long-term viable. Social security benefits could be means-tested to help direct funds to those most in need.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important to seriously consider the conflict and rivalry between social spending that benefits children and young adults and that targets the old. While we must help the elderly, we also cannot disregard the needs of coming generations. We must seek to redress this imbalance in an equitable, sustainable, and far-sighted way because the existing balance may not be right, prudent, or rational.
Works Cited
Gál, Róbert Iván, Pieter Vanhuysse, and Lili Vargha. “Pro-elderly Welfare States within Child-Oriented Societies.” Journal of European Public Policy, vol. 25. 2018, pp. 944-958. Web.