Former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has urged Theresa May’s new government to look at ways to bridge the “growing chasm between the generations” which leaves pensioners as the only benefiting age group.

Looking at financial imbalances between generations, in a piece written for the Evening Standard, Clegg noted that relative income has dropped for younger people as employment instability has grown, while the average income of British pensioners has “risen faster than for any other age group in the past 30 years”. He added that over 60s are the only generation to have become better off since the financial crisis of 2007/8.

“In effect [it] means that pensioners continue to receive an ever-increasing disposable income, irrespective of economic conditions[…] It implies, in practice, that there is little sharing of future risk between the generations.”

While Clegg confirmed that he does not believe that older generations are undeserving, he suggested that more needs to be done to balance the current financial climate.

“All I am suggesting is that we balance things so that the younger generations do not feel so starkly short-changed and the richest pensioners do not receive help they do not need” he said.

Looking to the future, Clegg referenced The Resolution Foundation’s estimates that in comparison to pre-crisis levels, by 2020, working age benefits will be nine per cent lower per person and child benefits 15 per cent lower, while pensioner benefits will be 13 per cent higher per person.

Clegg concluded by criticizing David Cameron and George Osborne’s attempts to encourage voters to have more “altruism between the generations” and said: “The gulf between the generations is one area where I would urge her [Theresa May] to go even further - admit that the status quo is unsustainable”.

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