(haven't read the article) I don't think its so much the life expectancy, its the low birthrate contributing fewer tax payers to fund pensions. This can be fixed by immigration.
Not in this country. That's the problem countries like Germany have because in their system contributions made now pay for pensions now. Whereas as I understand it, NI operates a lot like a commerical pension fund - the money paid in now is invested in order to pay for the pensions of the contributors. The article focused on longer life expectancy as the problem.
Correction. According to the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/business/info/basics/articles/tax265.shtml)
In the past NICs were treated as a independent pot of government money used specifically to fund social security benefits ... But now the money raised goes into the general Treasury coffers
It's both. The article does mention life expectancy.
However, immigration doesn't solve the problem, it merely delays it. Even importing tax payers, and presumably increasing manufacturing base and jobs available to go with it as well, those immigants themselves will one day grow old and retire. Then there will be even more old, retired people than there would otherwise have been.
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I don't think its so much the life expectancy, its the low birthrate contributing fewer tax payers to fund pensions. This can be fixed by immigration.
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However, immigration doesn't solve the problem, it merely delays it. Even importing tax payers, and presumably increasing manufacturing base and jobs available to go with it as well, those immigants themselves will one day grow old and retire. Then there will be even more old, retired people than there would otherwise have been.