The Tories' new social care tax plan for the over-40s shows they'll do anything to avoid bothering higher earners

It’s a good thing there isn’t already an age problem in the UK workforce – oh wait

MPs said under-40s would not be asked to pay more tax in the interests of intergenerational fairness (PA)

MPs have hit upon a great new plan to sort out the UK’s social care problem.

As costs spiral out of control, politicians have had to get creative in their thinking, and so they’ve come up with the following: a new tax for the over-40s, retirees and employers.

The funds raised through this new social care premium, as it’s been dubbed, would be used to make the personal elements of care, such as washing and eating, free to those who need it.

The reason this idea is being bandied about in the first place is due to government cuts. And so they have reached for the old standby, passing the buck, as the new policy solution.

Employers won’t like it. Nobody wants to pay more tax, not least employers who are already forking out for national insurance payments and pension contributions, which will, in theory, partly be going towards care costs.

Meanwhile, if over-40s are going to be paying more tax, they’re going to want higher salaries to cover the difference. Not a lot of people these days are feeling particularly flush with cash and even if the contributions are only demanded of those meeting a certain pay threshold, many workers will notice a dent, even a small percentage dip, in their pay check each month.

So employers are pretty much looking at a double whammy of added financial burdens.

All of which means it’s fairly likely that this tax on over-40s will make that demographic a lot less attractive to organisations looking for staff.

It’s a good thing there isn’t already an age problem in the UK workforce – oh wait. Age discrimination is actually a sizeable problem, with many older people feeling that workplaces are biased against them and that recruiters are not interested in taking them on.

There has been a focus on workplace discrimination recently, with the gender pay gap reporting rules introduced this year, but as it stands, there is a lot of work left to do.

Employers still hold problematic attitudes about maternity leave, with many firms continuing to take a woman’s family situation into account before hiring them.

Campaigners have been trying to remedy this for years, and it’s still a long way from being properly addressed – so how likely is it that employers will be persuaded to adopt a different attitude towards a new policy that will cost them more money?

Apart from the risks involved in creating a new divide between younger and older workers, there’s a problem with the basic fairness of taxing over-40s.

The MPs who have put forward this idea have done so on the basis that increasing tax for under-40s is unfair because they are more likely to be struggling to cope with financial burdens linked to housing and the cost of living already.

It seems an arbitrary delineation. Housing costs are high for everybody, and if someone is renting at 39 with no hope of saving up the deposit they need to buy a house, it’s a safe bet that they’ll be in a similar position after they’ve celebrated their 40th birthday.

Meanwhile, as people increasingly wait later to marry and have children, many of the major costs associated with reaching adulthood have also shifted down the line. According to the latest official figures, more than half of all babies born in England and Wales in 2016 were to parents aged 30 or over. This means most families will have at least a few years of looking after a dependent child when the parents are 40 and older, and that’s not a cheap endeavour.

Retirees have also been highlighted as a potential source of cash for care costs. The MPs who’ve proffered this idea have specified that they would tax only those with sufficient earnings from pensions and investments.

However, there’s a strong argument for leaving people alone in their retirement to enjoy their (usually) hard-earned money as they please.

The UK is currently standing on the brink of a savings crisis. Earlier this month, the financial watchdog revealed that one in 10 adults has no savings at all, and most people are not putting enough in their pension. Being relatively carefree when it comes to money is the main incentive for saving as a younger worker; and it’s not even working as it is. Taking away the benefit of not having to fork out additional taxes is not going to help matters.

There is one option that would seem to be fairer overall. Having higher earners cover the new care tax would avoid the risk of stirring up age discrimination and adding to the financial burdens of working families. But of course the Tories have pledged not to bother the people on higher incomes with the concerns of those struggling to feed themselves. And unlike the empty assurances they might give about Brexit, immigration and elections, you can bet that’s one promise they will keep.