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All of the aspects of generational inequality stem from a single root cause: the rising dependency ratio after the peak of the demographic dividend. US labor fo
by jackcosgrove 6y ago
All of the aspects of generational inequality stem from a single root cause: the rising dependency ratio after the peak of the demographic dividend. US labor force participation peaked in the 90s as female entrance into the workforce peaked. After that happened, the countervailing force of lower birthrates began to take over and the dependency ratio started to rise.
We're all fighting for a piece of a pie that is, relative to the population, shrinking. And it's shrinking because of demographic trends that began decades ago and would take decades to reverse.
Every developed country is going through the same thing, and some are in much worse positions than the US. Older people were lucky enough to be born into a world with demographics favorable to growth; younger people are unlucky to have been born into a shrinking world.
- cashewchoo 6y agoAre you talking mainly to things like consumer goods being bought more and more specifically because there are more people? Or systems that are basically N people paying for M people like Social Security (where N = number of workers and M = number of retirees) where N and M need to roughly stay the same ratio? Or something else? (More generally - I find your comment intriguing, please do go on!)
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- jackcosgrove 6y agoThe latter, there are fewer workers per population than in the past. This means supply falls relative to demand since the growing population is seniors with savings. That leads to higher prices. When demographics are in your favor, a youth bulge places fewer demands on society. Now we can tweak things to make them better. However the demographic megatrend is mostly set in place and there's not much we can do to reverse it.