The population is growing, individuals are living longer, and in the coming decades there will be a growing proportion of older people in the population. The number of those over the age of 75 is projected to double over the next 30 years. All the while, improvements in healthy life expectancy are not keeping pace with this increasing longevity. All these trends point towards increased pressure on public services, in particular social security, health and social care, as the number of people using public services, such as drawing a State Pension or using the NHS, outnumbers the number of those paying into the system through general taxation. Discussion of intergenerational financial transfers have been a key theme for exploration in the growing discourse in this area. As actuaries we are also concerned about the transfer of risk between generations, from within the family, from someone’s employer, and from the government to certain individuals.
