What happens when the baby boomers die?

[LargeSquareRock]

Sorry about the title, but that’s literally it. I’ve wondered this since I was a child.

Obviously we are about to enter a 20 year spike when a smaller number of tax payers support a higher number of elderly people in healthcare and elder care.

What happens in 20 years when the spike is over? Do we have empty care homes, plentiful housing and easily available health care?

I really have no evil agenda asking this- demographics has always fascinated me.

You must live in a rich area OP, most people I know in the over 60 age group just live in 3 bed houses.

Well plenty of us 'boomers' are still boomering in in the high tax bracket ...and I can assure you that none of you will be 'supporting' the husband and I in old age. We've worked hard and have enough and have made sure we are self sufficient til death as do part.

How is it a horrible comment? It’s true.

And that’s your suggestion not mine.

I like having a welfare state and if you want the welfare state to continue this fact should concern you rather than shooting the messenger.

That’s great. But you won’t be paying much tax as you approach 80, and 90 and 100. Trillions of tax dollars are going to be used to support baby boomers in their old age. What happens when the baby boomer generation passes?

This isn’t a dig at baby boomers. The best people I know are baby boomers. What happens afterwards?

I suppose the question is how much immigration do we want? It’s not particularly popular at the moment. And in the next decades how attractive will we actually be to the “good” immigrants when most of the West will be fighting to attract them too. We certainly have less EU migration since Brexit.

I'm hoping I don't reach 80, 70 is plenty for me

Or perhaps “what they’re Mum and Dad do” are illustrating that your sweeping generalisations aren’t as fully reflecting the sweeping generalisation your also applying to a generation?

Yeah - I used to think this, but now I'm 69 I'm not so sure.

I'm 66 and had enough already

We are four boomer siblings.
A - married, 3 children, retired to a 3 bed house
B - married, 2 children, working full time, 4 bed house
C - widowed, 2 children, working part time, 3 bed house
D - single, 1 child still at home, working full time, 4 bed house

All fit, healthy, active. I guess the last three will retire in the next 5 years. One might downsize. All have private pensions and full state pension entitlement and will continue to pay tax.

So the major impact of our boomers will be their removal from the workforce, freeing up jobs for younger people.

Well plenty of us 'boomers' are still boomering in in the high tax bracket ...and I can assure you that none of you will be 'supporting' the husband and I in old age. We've worked hard and have enough and have made sure we are self sufficient til death as do part.

This is exactly what I’m talking about. The OP has a valid & interesting point & we get these inane replies 🤦‍♀️

❤️😢

Gen X will be elderly next. We'll be really fucked then because half of them don't have decent private pensions and quite a few don't own property. At least boomers are mostly able to financially support themselves and also to contribute through taxation.

So many of the next generation have never worked.
Hate to think what’s going to happen when all us boomers who have paid tax all our lives drop off.

Or perhaps “what they’re Mum and Dad do” are illustrating that your sweeping generalisations aren’t as fully reflecting the sweeping generalisation your also applying to a generation?

But statistics are always going to have some generalisations & wont apply to every individual however statistics are more valid than anecdotes when discussing population trends.

I haven't actually used the NHS for years apart from those Covid jabs we had to have and a BCC that had to be chopped out so we don't all use it all the time

Gen X will be elderly next. We'll be really fucked then because half of them don't have decent private pensions and quite a few don't own property.

Good point

Not true. Many baby boomers were in two or three child families in the same way that their children were. I am on the cusp of the boomers and Generation X. What is not often realised is that there were in effect two baby booms - the one that everyone knows about in the few years after WW2 and a second one from around 1958-1965, although large numbers of babies were born until the end of the sixties. The peak year was 1964 - more babies born in that year than any other year since the end of the second world war. We always had very large classes at school. This means that the real glut is yet to come.

Of course their children and grandchildren will inherit their property. Hopefully they will be able to put deposits on homes.

Not all people go into nursing homes.

Many choose to stay at home and receive care from family or care organisations. More people are choosing to end their lives voluntarily too. Euthanasia laws have changed and allow this.

Birth rates have dropped so proportionally there may still be a similar issue. Ultimately we wouldn’t need as many care homes etc if we had familial bonds meaning we cared for each other instead of relying on the state to provide it.

In terms of properties, often the equity is used to fund carers etc, or eventually it will be inherited by the next generation.

We do have a large proportion of younger people not contributing to taxes etc due to not joining the workforce, whereas some older people may still be working into their late 60s.

I haven't actually used the NHS for years apart from those Covid jabs we had to have and a BCC that had to be chopped out so we don't all use it all the time

Fantastic

I feel people are misreading this post as some sort of attack on baby boomers. It’s not. It’s not. In 20 years most baby boomers will be dead. How will society look then, when a society that has been geared up to support baby boomers will no longer need to support baby boomers.

I wonder about this from a mass inheritance point of view. Most people don't actually spend thousands on care homes so the sixty-somethings will inherit homes / money.

We live in a moderately affluent rural part of the midlands.
I’d estimate 70% of the 4 bed houses here are lived in by a retired couple.
When they’re sold, generally seem to be bought by Londoners in their 30’s now working from home.

We do have a large proportion of younger people not contributing to taxes etc due to not joining the workforce, whereas some older people may still be working into their late 60s.

I thought most of the younger people out of work were students & that lots of over 50s have left the workforce due to increased sickness?