Financing the Consumptionof the Young and Old in France

Article dans une revue: A better understanding of the resource allocation across ages is fundamentalto put in place welfare reforms in the context of population ageing.In times of major demographic change, the redistribution of resourcesbetween age groups and the funding of the economically inactive aged remainsa recurring topic of public debate and a major public policy concern inOECD countries. Governments search for a policy mix that will improve thequality of life of the elderly, while at the same time investing in the futureof the young and reducing the fiscal burden on the working population.Life expectancy and education requirements are increasing while budgetconstraints are tightening. This potentially creates tension in the allocationof resources between age groups (Preston 1984; Lee and Mason 2011a).By applying the methodology of National Transfer Accounts (NTA),this article analyzes for France (1) how the funding of consumption (publicand private) is secured at each age; (2) how the funding of consumptionhas changed over recent decades; and (3) how the consumption is financedcompared to that of other countries (China, Germany, Japan, Sweden,United Kingdom, and United States). We consider three sources for financingconsumption: the State (net transfers and in-kind services), individualsthemselves (income and assets), and families (inter vivos transfers, excludingbequests, following the NTA methodology) (United Nations 2013b).

Auteur(s)

Hippolyte d’Albis, Carole Bonnet, Xavier Chojnicki, Najat El Mekkaoui, Angela Greulich, Jérôme Hubert, Julien Navaux

Revue
  • Population and Development Review
Date de publication
  • 2019
Mots-clés JEL
C80 D10 D91 J10
Mots-clés
  • National Transfer Accounts
  • Private and Public Consumption
  • Inter-Generational Equity
  • Generational Economy
Pages
  • 103-132
Version
  • 1
Volume
  • 45