The term ‘social engineering’ has negative connotations, but there is an argument that governments should do more to influence behaviour and attitudes. Dealing with an ageing population is a case in point
The issue of ageing populations in the UK and other countries is well known and much debated. However, the causal factors associated with this phenomenon are not always well understood, involving, as they do:
• an unprecedented and continuing decline in all causes, all ages mortality resulting in growing numbers of elderly (65+) and very elderly (80+) in the population;
• and a reduction in the number of children being born to families, resulting in a reduced fertility rate that is below the population replenishment level
The consequences of these two factors are a population bulge, with an increasing proportion of the population being economically inactive and supported by a decreasing proportion of those who are economically active.
Neither are the implications of such changes always fully understood. While the impact on health and social care are well known, there are also implications for other areas of public policy.
The issues surrounding the ageing population have been discussed for many years, but it is relatively recently that a much-increased focus has been placed on them as a consequence of financial austerity.
The state of the UK economy and public finances suggests that overall growth in public service spending may remain stagnant for the foreseeable future and, hence, the challenges of the ageing population can no longer be assumed to be addressed by the fruits of economic growth. Issues such as the Barnet curve of doom have starkly illustrated the situation being faced in local government.
Many of the proposed approaches to the challenges of an ageing population involve what might be termed ‘technocratic’ approaches. Technocratic denotes the application of technical means to areas where it is believed that cause and effect relationships are well established and technically rational action is possible.
This might include such changes as: raising tax rates, postponing the state retirement age, releasing housing equity, increasing personal contributions and facilitating higher levels of immigration.
I believe the proponents of such technocratic approaches display a huge degree of naivety about the scale of the challenges involved and the likely effectiveness of the proposed measures.
In my inaugural professorial lecture at Nottingham Business School in 2009, I coined the term a ‘social and economic watershed in our history’ to describe the implications of the onset of prolonged financial austerity. In the light of this, we must consider potentially significant ‘societal’ approaches as a response to the ageing population phenomenon.
Societal approaches involve an alteration in the social order of a society and may include changes in the nature of: social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. This is sometimes referred to as social engineering – it is a term often used pejoratively but need not be so.
Some examples of such societal approaches (some of which are much more prevalent in other countries) include:
• Healthy ageing – among the elderly there is a wide range of variation in the loss of functionality and prevalence of disability. Healthy ageing involves measures to promote healthier lifestyles among older people.
• Promotion of increased fertility rates – many countries have taken actions to raise their population fertility rates through various policies including financial incentives and enhanced childcare.
• Increased family involvement in elderly social care – in some countries care of the elderly is seen as more of a family responsibility rather than a state responsibility. Policies to facilitate and encourage families to take greater responsibility might be considered.
• Alteration of the working life concept – the trend for many older people to work beyond 65 suggests that the pattern of working life may shift forward several years at both ends of the range. This has considerable implications for younger people that need to be considered
Many of these societal approaches will be extremely unpopular in certain quarters and it sometimes seems politically incorrect to even discuss them in polite company. However, it is important that, as a society, we have an open debate about the merits of such societal changes (and possible means of achievement) if only to rule them out as unachievable.
In doing this, we must avoid the tendency for elitist groups in society to stifle debate and to force their views on the majority.
This is a summary of a paper presented at the conference of the Journal of Finance and Management in Public Services. A copy of the full paper can be obtained by emailing the author at [email protected]
