"That fact gives the young unprecedented leverage, which has so far gone unrealised."
No, it doesn't. It doesn't matter if the population is aging. If the youth are still a minority, then the status quo won't change. They don't really have any additional leverage in a democratic system.
To give an example - Germany has way too few people in elderly care, and conditions are worsening, so numbers are dropping. What is the solution by the leading party voted for by boomers? They would like to introduce a year of mandatory service after the young are done with school to keep the cost low.
>They would like to introduce a year of mandatory service after the young are done with school to keep the cost low.
This has been the norm in Austria for a while which I assume is where Germany got the idea. Military service is mandatory here but if you want to legally avoid it, you have to do mandatory civil duties in public services that suffer from labor shortages.
No, Germany got it from themselves. We used to have it until a couple of years ago. They want to re-introduce it without the military aspect, as the only reason is saving costs for the elderly.
No, it doesn't. It doesn't matter if the population is aging. If the youth are still a minority, then the status quo won't change. They don't really have any additional leverage in a democratic system.
Edit: why disagree?