A society for all ages

Citation

Inayatullah, S. and Blackman, C. (2003), "A society for all ages", Foresight, Vol. 5 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/fs.2003.27305faa.001

A society for all ages

A society for all ages

Over the past 20 years governments in many industrialised nations have become increasingly concerned about the strain an ageing population would place on health, welfare and pension systems. The issue of ageing is frequently presented in a divisive way: as people live longer and birth rates are falling, how will society (we) pay for the elderly (them) in the future? The prescription seems to be that taxes will have to rise, the retirement age will have to go up, and pension benefits will have to be reduced. Some have argued that governments are creating an unnecessary climate of fear in order to force through unpopular change in the welfare system (Shaw, 2002).

Without doubt there are some difficult decisions that need to be faced, but the issue needs to be reframed. An alternative, futures approach is to view the ageing of the population as an issue not just for older people but for everyone in society, no matter what age. Rather than the negative way in which the issue is typically discussed, we should be taking an intergenerational approach. Instead of setting young against old, we should be seeking policies to create a society for all ages.

This issue of Foresight takes such an approach. At the core of this edition is a set of "stimulus papers" prepared for the Queensland Government in Australia as part of its project Queensland 2020: a State for all ages. The project aims to encourage whole-of-government and community debate on the structural ageing of the population and the interconnected needs of all generations. It focuses on government planning frameworks and aims to generate a transformational shift in how government views the ageing of the population.

The four "stimulus papers" look at ageing from different perspectives – a futures perspective (Sohail Inayatullah), a youth perspective (Marcus Bussey), an ageing perspective (Helen Bartlett), and a planning perspective (Mel Miller and Ian Siggins). These articles are supplemented by others who consider ageing from the point of view of future urban design (Phillip Daffara), women's working futures (Monika Merkes), and ageing at the personal or individual level (Verne Wheelwright). Finally the issue concludes with a call from Bliss Browne to liberate our imagination on the subject of ageing.

Sohail Inayatullah and Colin Blackman

Reference

Shaw, F. (2002), "Is the ageing population the problem it is made out to be?", Foresight, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 4-11.

Dr Sohail Inayatullah , a political scientist, is Professor at Tamkang University, Taipei (Graduate Institute of Futures Studies), and Adjunct Professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast (Faculty of Social Sciences and the Arts). Inayatullah is Fellow of the World Futures Studies Federation and sits on the International Advisory Council of theWorld Future Society. He was born in Pakistan and raised in a variety of places including the US, Switzerland, and Malaysia. He spent 20 years in Hawaii before moving to Australia. Inayatullah is co-editor of the Journal of Futures Studies and associate editor of New Renaissance and sits on several editorial boards including Futures, and Foresight. Email: info@metafuture.org

Dr Colin Blackman is a writer and consultant working in the areas of futures and telecommunications. He is the founding editor of Foresight, and also of Info (the journal of policy, regulation and strategy for telecommunications, information and media). He was previously the editor of Futures, and Telecommunications Policy. Prior to starting his own business, he was senior consultant with economic and strategy consultants SQW (Segal Quince Wicksteed Limited). He was awarded his PhD from the University of Aston's Technology Policy Unit for his research into strategies for agricultural change and the UK economy. Email: crblackman@camford.demon.co.uk.