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Are large age groups hijacking the welfare state? The effects of relative cohort size on five areas of social spending

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  • Plante, Charles

    (McGill University)

  • Jensen, Jason O.

Abstract

Chronos politics refers to the political mobilization of age groups and/or cohorts. In the popular media, commentators accuse Baby Boomers of using their large relative cohort size to force welfare states to shortchange smaller generations. Ironically, Western society used to be afraid that their disproportionate size would cause the Baby Boomers to be shortchanged. Our paper uses population and expenditure data on 24 countries to explore how the relative size of age groups affects expenditures in five areas of social spending: active labour market policies (ALMP), family, health, old age, and unemployment. We find that contrary to popular perceptions, per capita spending tends to lag behind demographic changes, resulting in shortages and windfalls for larger and smaller generations, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Plante, Charles & Jensen, Jason O., 2017. "Are large age groups hijacking the welfare state? The effects of relative cohort size on five areas of social spending," SocArXiv fa5j4, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:fa5j4
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/fa5j4
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