This paper examines the relationship between an ageing population and the future of the state pension. Arguments that for demographic reasons current levels of provision are unsustainable are exposed to critical eval uation. The paper explores the construction of the contradictory images of population crises, one whereby the problem is identified as too many old people (in Britain) and the second as too many young people (in the third world). The source of these 'crises' is not demographic but ideo logical. The proclaimed basis for much current government policy, namely that of the free market, is not applied in the case of population policy. However, to put the idea of an international free market in labour on the agenda, reveals amongst other things the racist nature of immi gration policy, the exploitative relationship to the Third World, and the ageist approach to pensions policy. The real challenge is in creating a progressive pensions policy which reinforces social solidarity on an inter national scale.
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