The “Outlook for Expenses” table in any recent federal budget makes clear that Old Age Security (OAS) funding is growing faster than most other federal spending combined. All the while, spending on medical care for those age 65+ absorbs more and more provincial revenue.

Decades ago, sufficient revenue was not allocated to fully cover the long-term costs of OAS and medical care for the baby boomer generation. As a result, these two expenditures now place significant pressure on government budgets, limiting funding for national defense, housing, childcare, education, and other priorities valued by Canadians, including balanced budgets.

Younger Canadians already contribute 20 to 40 percent more in income taxes toward healthy retirements than the current retiring generation contributed to older generations when they were young.

These fiscal trends compound challenges for younger Canadians who struggle with higher rent and home ownership costs that have outpaced their earnings. The implications for their retirement planning are concerning, because many have little left over to contribute to retirement savings. They count on managers of private pension plans to make excellent decisions — when they are lucky enough to be in jobs that have such pensions.

All of this was predictable, because when the baby boomer generation started out, there were seven working age Canadians for every retiree. Now, as they retire, there are only three. However, past decision-making processes did not account for these demographic shifts adding burden to younger generations when creating pension and medical care policies. Today’s governments, regardless of their ideological affiliation, are holding the bag — and the load is very heavy indeed to pay for OAS and medical care for retirees.