ABSTRACT
Within the last 5 years a debate over “generational equity” concerns has emerged in industrial societies. The debate reflects a new and potentially explosive policy issue involving age groups and social stratification in the late 20th century: the distribution of tax-generated societal resources to different age groups, particularly the young and the old. Our purpose in this chapter is to explore three psychosocial-level issues—autonomy, solidarity, and affirmation—which we feel relate to this societal-level debate. These three psychosocial concepts have emerged from examination of families and their intergenerational relationships across the life span (Bengtson, Gatz, Roberts, & Richards, 1988). We suggest that these three issues are also relevant at the macrosocial level of public policy in the debate over inequalities and equities among age groups. Proposed connections between demographic, economic, and political conditions and family interactions over the life span with respect to autonomy, solidarity, and affirmation may serve as guideposts to policymakers and researchers in the controversy over the distribution of public resources across generations.
