British think tank proposes new tax on old to heal intergeneration rift

LONDON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A new tax on pensioners was proposed in a report Tuesday as a way of healing an inter-generational divide.

As well as taxing older people, the Resolution Foundation think-tank also called for all younger people to be given a citizens inheritance of 10,000 pounds (13,600 U.S. dollars) when they reach the age of 25.

The bounty could be used to help young people pay for a deposit on a home, start a business or improve their education or skills.

The foundation's intergenerational commission found people born between 1981 and 2000, known as milennials, are earning the same as those born 15 years before them were at the same age. They are also only half as likely to own their home by age 30 compared to baby boomers born between 1946 and 1965.

The foundation, headed by former Conservative universities minister Lord David Willetts, said radical moves are needed to boost funding of Britain's National Health Service (NHS) and also to maintain social cohesion. It will also help heal the growing economic tensions between the generations, the report said.

Making working people aged 65 and over pay national insurance contributions would generate an extra 3.1 billion U.S. dollars a year for the NHS, the report recommended.

Willetts said without action young people in Britain would become increasingly angry. He said young people were being locked out of the housing market while older people were worried about the demands of healthcare.

The report also wants the government to scrap council tax, paid to local council by all home occupiers, and introduce instead a new property tax targeting wealthier homeowners. There was also a call for a shake-up in inheritance taxes.

Reaction from older people, traditional supporters of the governing Conservatives, was swift, with many taking to social media to condemn the plans.

The Daily Mail quoted former Conservative pensions minister Baroness Altmann saying the plan would be as unpopular with voters as the doomed dementia tax blamed for the Conservative Party's election disaster last year when they lost their majority in the House of Commons.

Altmann said: "Only about one in 10 pensioners continues working past state pension age and are not all well-off. Many older workers keep working because they do not have good pensions and are trying to make ends meet.

"I hope the Prime Minister will heed the lessons of the last election manifesto, which proved how politically toxic the issue of care funding can be."

A 20-something female was quoted in the media as saying if the government handed her 10,000 pounds, she'd be down to Selfridges to spend it.

Willetts said: "Many people no longer believe that Britain is delivering on its obligations to young and old.

"From an NHS levy to building more homes and a Citizen's Inheritance to boost young people's career and housing aspirations, our report shows how a new contract between generations can build a better and more unified Britain."

The foundation's director Torsten Bell said the commission's starting point was that the public believed today's young adults are having a tough time.

"But it's not just millennials who are being let down. Just as crucial is our disastrous approach to delivering the health and care that older generations deserve, need and expect," he said. Enditem