Americans have always taken for granted that their legacy would be one of rising prosperity. But now, for the first time in our nation’s history, we face the prospect that not only today’s young, but their children in turn will inherit an era of stagnant or even falling living standards.

AGE has calculated that the cost of meeting old-age pension and health promises to Americans now in middle-age could cause the average living standards of workers and their dependents to enter an indefinite period of decline beginning in 2025.

It remains that the most Americans are not preparing adequately for retirement—and, therefore, once in retirement, may be hard pressed to absorb benefit reductions. In the absence of policy intervention, the typical baby boomer will embark on a retirement averaging 20 years with financial assets sufficient to replace barely one year’s pre-retirement income. With medical bills significantly higher than those of today’s retirees, boomers will be more dependent on their children than any generation before them.

One way or another, our leaders will have to cope with this crisis. If the only voices they hear are those of organized special-interests, the preponderance of sacrifice is bound to fall on those who are either too young or unsophisticated to vote.

That is why we have created AGE—to ensure that the interests of younger and future generations are well-defined and fairly represented in the difficult negotiations to come.