Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, asks if the time has come for the government to break pledges made to pensioners. He charts how the average income of senior citizens has risen and is now higher than that of the rest of the population. "We are in a position we never intended," he says. "One generation has lucked out and generations coming after are not only doing much worse, but paying for the older generation." He asks whether the government can and should sustain the "triple lock" which makes the state pension rise much faster than other benefits. And he argues that the inequality between generations is now entrenching inequality within generations.
Producer: Helen Grady

Interviewees:
Torsten Bell, the Resolution Foundation
Angus Hanton, the Intergenerational Foundation
Baroness Ros Altmann, former pensions minister
John Kay, economist
Joanne Segars, Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association
Baroness Onora O'Neill, philosopher
Frances O'Grady, Trades Union Congress
Ben Page, Ipsos MORI. Published on October 3, 2016.

Breaking Promises

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Analysis makes sense of the ideas that change the world. What made Islam political, whether the Government can make us go green, why we think the market in human organs is repugnant are just some of the subjects the series tackles. With thought-provoking and expert presenters, Analysis aims to make the world of policy and ideas both interesting and surprising.

Breaking Promises

BBC Radio 4 Analysis