The Politics of Age
Kaitlin Dryburgh
The cut to the winter fuel payment signifies a bleak start to this new Labour Government. This didn’t need to happen; this wasn’t the only option. Raising more money would have been more effective. Prioritising investment and simply not continuing on the same path as the conservatives would have been better. The depressing element is that these cuts when all is said and done won’t have a huge impact on that black hole that continues to surprise them.
From the moment the cuts were announced there has been upset. Rightfully so. Many a point has been made that vulnerable pensioners will be even more pressed this winter to choose between heating or eating. Although the cuts have now been passed there were a few rebel MPs who voted against them and many who abstained. (Side note-to anyone who considers abstaining a true act of rebellion you are dead wrong). As we slowly slip into a state of austerity the calls to protect pensioners is strong, but where was the same outrage when it came to younger people?
From the outset I want to make it clear I’m not saying it should be one or the other, I very much agree that the winter fuel payment cuts should be disagreed with but there has been too many instances where the plight of younger people wasn’t a priority.
Of course there is a clear explanation as to why this is the case. Children aren’t exactly drawn to politics, adults barely are. Children or young people don’t have the space or voice in the political arenas like adults do. When it comes to speaking for the plight of children it’s mostly down to charities or advocacy groups. Parents trying to work and raise children have little mental capacity to get up in arms about what political decisions are affecting them and their family members. Thus we have a group in society that are under-represented, just to add to the list.
It's not that either group are on a whole winning, old or young. It currently seems that the only group that is managing to achieve that is the rich. Yes, like always the rich seem to be dodging these “tough choices” and “tough times”. But what’s changed?
No these hard decisions that we’re all being prepped for are affecting both young and old but are we seeing the same outrage for both groups? Are the young being left behind?
The winter fuel payment cuts were met with heavy criticism. We’ve heard about changes to the state pension which will rise by £460, although unfortunately this won’t come in time for those who will lose their winter fuel payment. This altogether is around a £200 rise above inflation.
But what about the continued two-child benefit cap. This issue did cause rebellions in the house of commons but it seems as if all has died down now. The two-child benefit cap is ensuring that many children grow-up in poverty. Introduced in 2013 it continues to impoverish larger families and does little in the way of encouraging work, as was one of the initial reasonings behind it. An estimated 1.6million children are affected by the policy and the majority of those children live in working households. The importance of this seems to have been forgotten on politicians.
Perhaps one of the most significant subjects where the plight of young people has being forgotten about is the COVID pandemic. Yeah politicians reference it, they talk of the sacrifices that young people made and the impact of not going to school and socialising. But little actions have really showed they truly cared.
Everyone was impacted by COVID in some way or another. And with the scandal surrounding the Scottish care homes, we’ve still to uncover some of the darkest moments. But studies fairly soon after the pandemic, teachers’ groups, child psychiatrists and young people themselves showed that their age-group were the worst effected. Little political action has been taken to address this.
Looking at mental health a British Science Association study found that 67% of young people aged 14-18 are concerned by the impact of the pandemic on their mental health. Many other studies confirmed the same thing. It had a knock-on effect concerning confidence, ability to perform in exams, worries over going to university and job prospects after education.
Profoundly though, 92% of those asked by the British Science Association didn’t think that politicians weren’t talking to them when discussing COVID. So although this huge worldwide event affected them the most it seems that they feel completely out of the conversation.
When we were living through the pandemic those most vulnerable to the illness were prioritised, rightly so. But where is the thought and actions for the young people who are left trying to figure out how to grow up when two years of their life were flipped upside down? Young people who are feeling the effects of poor metal health are being left behind. Some worldwide studies even predict that stunted cognitive development caused by the pandemic jeopardise the wellbeing of whole working generations to come. What will be the long-lasting effects are yet to be revealed but politicians don’t seem to being doing a whole lot about it.
Although we can’t go back and correct the decisions that were made we sure as hell can learn from them. But the struggles of the mental health services in Scotland and the rest of the UK only add to the potential ticking time bomb. Earlier this year numbers from mental health service providers CAMHS operating in the Lothians found referrals had increased 40% in the past four years. Which makes a lot of sense considering its now believed that one in five children in schools have a mental health disorder. The jump from a decade ago is worryingly almost double. Of course COVID plays a part in this but so does the prevalence of social media and the dangers of the online world.
Strengthening and investing in more mental health services for young people isn’t meeting the demand. It doesn’t even seem to be high on the agenda, not really. Even placing strong legislation which holds social media companies to account and protects young people online always seems to slip through the net while watered down versions are supposed to be applauded.
One group of people is no more important than the other. We need to make sure that there is a place for everyone at the table, where all feel like politics and government is a place for them. Young people can’t be placed to the side and sacrificed in the face of a long line of cuts. There are simply too many challenges that they face.