Seniors’ Discounts: a Value Beyond Economics

By: Jeff McLaren

ABSTRACT:
Economics should not be the only criteria for choosing to change Senior's discounts

I believe cutting seniors’ discounts is a mistake. The recent and ongoing attempts to cut or eliminate universal senior’s discounts across city programs and services are a result of thinking that fails to consider the non-economic values of the community.

This issue cannot be properly looked at from only an economic lens or solely with economic logic. There are higher values and principles involved. This is important because Kingston City Council will face the question at our first September meeting.

One higher value is fairness: whatever one’s station in life, it is universal that one makes less money the day after they retire than the day before they retire. Retirement from a job always results in a loss of that income. Fairness would suggest that we recognize this drop in income at retirement by keeping the senior’s discounts. There are also fairness concerns such as the fact that medical costs usually go up as you age but not all are covered by OHIP. Additionally property taxes keep going up and usually faster than indexed pensions and most certainly faster than non-indexed pensions.  

Another value is respect and regard: generations in retirement made our lives possible, rebuilt our economies, our privilege, and our relative safety. Today, most of us have so much more than they did when they were our age. The seniors’ discount is a token recognition of a debt we owe for what previous generations have built and made possible for us. From the perspective of the current retired generation, what ungrateful children we would be if we take this small consideration away.

We build and expand parks, bike lanes, pools, and arenas. These social elements have an intrinsic value beyond their purely economic value. While they are an economically inefficient use of funds, the reason we do build them is because there is a whole host of higher values that can be expressed with these elements. Consider also, there is no good economic reason to have children or pets, but there are many good reasons for them in our lives. My point is that thinly conceived economic efficiency should not be the only consideration for funding programs. Such economic thinking should not be the only frame of mind to use when deciding on whether we should keep or eliminate seniors’ discounts.

While it may make sense to a few to save money by eliminating seniors’ discounts form a narrow economic calculation, real life is so much richer in value than mere economic utility. The truth about higher values is that they can’t be given a dollar value and therefore they are beyond economic measure.

If you agree please let your City councillor know how you feel about seniors’ discounts because I fear they will be cut if people do not let their elected city representatives know how they feel. 

Added on: 2019-08-15 09:21:12