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Grey Power: Towards a Political Economy of Older Voters in the UK
Author(s) -
Chrisp Joe,
Pearce Nick
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/1467-923x.12737
Subject(s) - politics , voting , power (physics) , backlash , turnout , political economy , economics , political science , law , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science
The impact of age on voting behaviour and political outcomes has become an issue of increasing interest, particularly in the UK. Age divides in voter turnout and political preferences have led to claims that age is the ‘new class’. In this article, we contrast existing ‘cultural backlash’ and political economy explanations of the age divide in politics, and challenge the view that older people are predominantly ‘left behind’, culturally or economically. We show that older people have distinct material interests, related to housing wealth and pensions’ income, that are visible in their political preferences. We argue for the development of a new political economy of age.