The work and pensions select committee has launched a new inquiry on ‘intergenerational fairness’ looking at whether policies such as the triple-lock on pensions have caused disparity between generations.

The inquiry will question whether the current generation of people in or approaching retirement will over the course of their lifetimes have enjoyed and accumulated much more housing and financial wealth, public service usage, and welfare and pension entitlements than more recent generations can hope to receive.

For example, the committee said that those born in the middle of the baby boom, between 1956 and 1961, have been forecast to receive from the welfare state 118 per cent of what they contribute.

On the other hand, recent research shows that younger people are on course to have less wealth at each point in their lives than earlier generations had acquired by the same age.

Therefore, the committee will investigate the extent to which this disparity is a consequence of government policies, such as the ‘triple lock’ which protects pensioners’ incomes, and/or broader economic and demographic trends. It will then consider steps which could be taken to address any intergenerational unfairness.

Work and pensions select committee chair Frank Field said that voters have two priorities for welfare reform, “is it fair and is it affordable”. He said politicians of successive governments have “ducked both of these fundamental questions” when it comes to the different levels of income afforded to those above and others below retirement age.

Field questioned whether it is “fair and affordable” to divert a large and growing sum of public money towards pensioners, regardless of their circumstances, while poor families with children face year-on-year restrictions on their income.

“Can the ‘triple lock’ pension increase pledge be sustainable? Or are these policies necessary to guard against pensioner poverty? The select committee hopes to learn from voters of all ages what they believe to be both fair and affordable, so we can propose ways of restoring confidence across all generations in the welfare state,” he added.

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