Minus some name-calling, that was the opening line I received in a recent e-mail from a reader of a recent column. The reader took issue with my sharing evidence that boomers, as a generation, did not pay enough taxes during their working lives to cover fully the costs for their Old Age Security and medical care as they age.
Compare that with 2021, the most recent year for which there are complete data. Total government debt is $1.1-trillion. When you divide this figure by the 21 million residents under 45, debt per younger person is now $53,000. That’s a fivefold increase over the past 45 years. Another potential caveat is that the figures I report above don’t account for our economy being more affluent today than in 1976. Back then, gross domestic product per capita was approximately $40,000 when adjusted for inflation. Now it is 65-per-cent higher, at $66,000.
The cost of servicing the debt on boomers’ unpaid government bills has real implications for younger people today. For example, the British Columbia government just tabled its 2023 budget. Interest payments on provincial debt will be $1.4-billion higher as of 2025-26. That’s 23 per cent more than B.C. will add to spending on kindergarten-to-Grade 12 education over the same period.