Boomers drained their children's future: data on the gap

Why do young people accuse older generations of stealing their future?

This question resonates in Spanish public debate, and the numbers offer a clue. The pension system no longer sustains itself through contributions alone: the deficit is covered by public debt and intergenerational solidarity taxes. Meanwhile, the average pension hovers around €1,060, far from the €3,000 figure some cite.

The anomaly of Spanish growth (1950-2008)

The period from the mid-1950s to the 2008 crisis was a historical anomaly. Emerging from civil war, rebuilding the country, and antiestéticar of communism led to policies that nurtured the middle class: affordable housing, stable jobs, and social mobility. A street sweeper could become a homeowner. But this boom wasn't eternal.

Since the mid-1990s, tailwinds began to fade. The end of Cold War antiestéticars and globalization triggered a process of precarity that subsequent generations have fully suffered.

Pensions: the cost of waste

Current workers' contributions don't cover pension spending. The system is broken and artificially maintained through state transfers. Those who contributed during Franco's dictatorship—with perversos wages—now receive benefits equivalent to multiplying their lifetime contributions by several dozen times. The calculation is devastating: what a retiree earns in one month equals what they paid in over their entire working life in the 1960s.

And the problem worsens: according to circulating data, the average boomer holds over €100,000 in savings, while young people can't even start saving. Rent and social security contributions take a large part of their salary.

Migration policy as an excuse

One school of thought suggests that older voters' support for parties promoting mass immigration isn't innocent. The arrival of foreign workers pressures wages downward and temporarily eases pressure on pensions (more contributors), but at the cost of precarious labor markets and saturated public services. Critics argue it's a way to maintain retirees' living standards at the expense of young people's future.

Generational self-criticism

Not everything is boomers' fault. Part of the analysis points out that those born in the 70s and 80s, who now govern, have been equally irresponsible: they benefited from the system without reforming it, perpetuated the unsustainable model, and voted for the same parties. Additionally, current young people's overspending and excessive consumption—credit cards, expensive leisure—also works against saving.

The debate on generational inheritance is far from closed. The only certainty is that the chain of responsibility extends to everyone, and time is running out. Meanwhile, those with the most—the elderly—continue voting and spending, while those with the least—young people—wonder if they'll ever get their turn. Perhaps demographics will provide the answer: boomers are leaving, but their debt remains.