A New Generational Contract: Using data to explore intergenerational fairness

This research was undertaken by researchers at the Resolution Foundation using administrative data made available via the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service (SRS), which is being expanded and improved with ADR UK funding.

The Intergenerational Commission – convened by the Resolution Foundation – used data made available by ONS via the SRS to explore questions relating to intergenerational fairness for its 2018 report, ‘A New Generational Contract’. The research involved a deep and wide-ranging examination of the experiences and prospects of different generations in Britain, and used data such as from the Occupational Pension Schemes Survey and statistics relating to life expectancy. 

 Production of the report involved bringing together leaders from business, academia and policymaking to devise a means of repairing the social contract between generations. The ‘intergenerational contract’ refers to the principle that different generations provide support to each other across the different stages of their lives. 

Recommendations made 

The report examined jobs and pay; housing; pensions; welfare; and living standards across the generations. The work resulted in a host of policy recommendations relating to these areas, including, for example: 

• A £1 billion ‘Better Jobs Deal’, offering practical support and funding for younger workers most affected by the financial crisis to train up or move jobs. 

• Indeterminate tenancies for those renting in the private rented sector, with light-touch, three-year rent stabilisation and a new housing tribunal.   

• Raising the value of the new State Pension relative to median earnings and replacing the triple lock with a new ‘double lock’.   

• An extra £2.3 billion of public funding for social care alongside modest user charges on assets, with protections so that no more than a quarter of assets can be depleted.   

You can read the full report and see the complete list of recommendations on the Resolution Foundation website.