For some time now, a certain narrative has permeated the internet: “Young people don’t vote, so we end up with a government that only caters to the elderly. The youth need to storm the ballot boxes.” The logic follows that the elderly enjoyed the fruits of a generous social security system that is now being dismantled, leaving the current working generation to foot the bill for a reward they will never receive. “Stop spending on the old; invest in childcare and the youth instead.” It’s a compelling, if toxic, sales pitch.
The Source of the Rage
The government hasn’t helped matters. Their go-to economic stimulus—handing out cash to low-income households (which are disproportionately elderly)—infuriates taxpayers who have struggled through post-pandemic inflation without a cent of support. Toss in the statistic that those over 60 hold 60% of Japan’s household financial assets, and the frustration of the working class reaches a boiling point. Both old and new media have jumped on this, treating “generational warfare” as a legitimate policy debate and demanding a forced transfer of wealth from the old to the young.
Victims of a Broken Promise
But let’s look at the reality. Do young people think they will never grow old? The elderly are not the villains; they are fellow victims of social security “reforms” that are, in fact, systematic downgrades.
The current generation of seniors, particularly those in their late 70s and beyond, lived through an era where raising children and caring for their own parents without government help was simply expected. They built the Japan we see today. Yet, the reward for their toil has been a betrayal: their children often cannot afford to care for them (due to decades of economic stagnation), and the government has repeatedly hiked the consumption tax while gutting pensions and healthcare. Unlike today’s youth, they weren’t given decades to prepare with tools like NISA or iDeCo. Now, they are vilified by YouTubers and pundits as “winners” while living on a basic pension of a mere 800,000 yen a year. To top it off, they are now being asked to pay “childcare support gold” for children who won’t even be adults for another 20 years. It is, frankly, cruel.
The Grand Inheritance
As regular readers of this blog know, the elderly are not “draining” the youth. On the contrary, they are the ones who left the current generation a magnificent inheritance: the world’s largest net foreign assets.
If our macro-economic policy were sane, we would use fiscal policy to tap into this wealth and repay their contribution. Instead, our massive current account surplus persists because of government incompetence, not elderly greed. Directing anger at seniors is a complete misplacement of blame.
Money is Not a Finite Resource
The fundamental mistake of the “elderly-bashers” is the belief that money is a finite pie. In reality, money doesn’t disappear when it’s spent. If seniors felt secure enough to spend their savings, that money would circulate back into the pockets of the working generation. Instead, they are gripped by a lifelong anxiety that forces them to hoard cash for an uncertain future. Attacking them only deepens this fear, causing them to tighten their purse strings even further.
We must stop the degradation of social security immediately; in fact, we should expand it. Ensuring that seniors can live without fear is a prerequisite for a healthy economy.
Even if the government chooses not to alleviate the anxiety of the elderly, there is no excuse for not supporting the youth. Money is not finite. The government can issue bonds to fund childcare or startup subsidies for young entrepreneurs separately. You can create as much money as you need. Stripping assets from the elderly doesn’t solve the problem; it only guarantees that the youth will have an even more miserable future to look forward to.
Any argument that seeks to divide generations is fundamentally flawed. The culprit isn’t your neighbor; it is the government’s failed macroeconomic policy.
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