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Why people over the age of 55 are the new problem generation
What makes them so reckless? For one thing, there’s the attitudes to drink, drugs and sex. In the two decades to 2023 the proportion of people aged 18 to 34 in America who “ever have occasion to use alcoholic beverages” declined from 72% to 62%, according to Gallup, a pollster. Yet among those over 55 alcohol use increased to 59% from 49%.
Infection and early death are only some of the more obvious problems. A minority of the reckless old are causing more direct mischief themselves: they make up a growing proportion of people arrested and convicted of crimes. It is well known that America’s prisons are increasingly full of older inmates. What is less well understood is that this is not entirely due to inmates ageing inside. Older people make up a larger share of newly convicted criminals these days, too. From 1992 to 2022, among men arrested, the share over the age of 50 tripled, from 5% to 15%, according to data from the FBI. In absolute terms, the number increased by nearly 40%, even as arrests of other age groups tumbled. Similar trends are seen in other countries.
Older folk seem in some ways more prone to political violence, too. A generation ago, the idea of pensioners rampaging was laughable. But when anti-immigration riots broke out across England in August 2024, one of those arrested in Liverpool was William Nelson Morgan, a 69-year-old grandfather. At his court hearing, it was recounted that he shouted at officers arresting him: “I’m fucking 70.” The police officer retorted: “Well, why are you at a fucking riot?” Similarly, of those arrested and charged after the riots in Washington, DC, on January 6th 2021, almost half were older than 40, and the oldest was 81. Of the women arrested (a smaller number) fully a third were in their 50s, far outnumbering any other age group.
For most of the post-war period crime, alcoholism, drugs and pregnancy were all rising among the young. And then at some point it stopped. The generations now ageing disgracefully were disgraceful in youth, and in middle age. If they’re behaving badly now, there is really not much to be done about it. If they choose to frolic at toga parties, no one will stop them. Except, ultimately, time.
