Publication

How Much Does Generation Explain Policy Problems?

Institute for Reform Issue Brief 2026-29 (October 15, 2026), Part 1 of the "Politics and Generations" series, asks how much differences between age groups and birth cohorts explain the gaps in income, assets and wages. In the composition of the population and the electorate, age is itself the subject of diagnosis. In the gaps in income, assets and wages, however, the share between age groups is small and most lies within the same age group. Seen by birth cohort, too, there is no single direction.