When we think of leaving behind a legacy for the next generation, we envision leaving them a world that’s better ours.

We think of leaving behind a world that guarantees them some sense of security. 

But what are we truly leaving behind?

For decades we’ve let governments spend beyond their means for short term political gains at the cost of future generations. 

The result of all this borrowing? Over $1.4 TRILLION in debt that future generations  will have to pay through higher taxes. 

The last time we let politicians spend their way to the bottom, generations of Canadians had to pay the price, and in some cases are still paying the price for the mistakes of yesterday.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Generation Screwed have been ringing the alarm bells on unsustainable government spending and how the debts and how today’s spending will only mean higher taxes for the next generation.

Last January, the C.D. Howe Institute finally released their report on intergenerational fairness titled “Intergenerational Fairness: Will Our Kids Live Better than We Do?” .

 Unfortunately, we’re getting a bigger (and bleaker) picture. 

Picture this; a sixteen-year-old today will pay over $2M in taxes over the course of his or her lifetime, while only getting $1.6M in his or her lifetime benefits. 

The difference of $473,546 is his or her net tax burden. 

Compare that to someone born in 1973, who will pay $422,822 in taxes over the course of his or her lifetime, while getting back $397,360 in his or her lifetime benefits. 

Someone born in 1973 will then have a net tax burden of $25,462. 

Look at those numbers at face value and one can already see the stark and unfair differences between two generations. 

We have created a system that’s doomed to fail future generations. That’s why last September we launched a new campaign called “My Tax Burden” on campus to raise awareness and mobilize students around the issue of intergenerational fairness. 

Previous generations may have voted in governments that created a system that’s doomed to fail, but it isn’t stopping the next generation from fighting back. That’s why the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is helping build the Generation Screwed movement.

We need to help the next generation build a movement loud enough that politicians can’t afford to ignore them any longer.