The Dependents Ration

[Max Sawicky]

> >  ...That the elderly need more services (especially medical services).
> 
> 
> Are you sure about that?  I mean, isn't elementary and secondary 
> education one of the biggest "industries" in the economy, all run by tax 
> dollars?  And add to that all the unpaid "services" parents have to 
> provide for children, and it seems to me that young dependents are much 
> more of a "drain on society" than old ones... 

It would be interesting to document what everybody
takes for granted, as you imply.

A few points, however:  the number of elderly
is growing relative to the rest of the population,
while the number of young is going to shrink; the
proportion of 'older-older' is growing as well;
medical and housing for the elderly are much more
expensive (and growing faster) than comparables
for kids. Medical costs for those in the final years
of life are out of sight now for the vast majority
of households. Parents would use housing even if they
didn't have kids, and not necessarily much less. 
Grandparents get unpaid for services too if they
are not institutionalized.

The biggest point, however, is that the elderly
are served largely by the Federal budget, and it
is Federal fiscal policy which is politically
crippled by popular delusions fed by the right
and center, at the very least, about public debt.

mbs