Self-checkout machines have been attacked for reducing human contact, as MPs call for a tax on their use.
A parliamentary group has issued a report suggesting a 1p charge on the service in a bid to raise £30 million for intergenerational projects.
The MPs - including Change UK’s Chuka Umunna - argue Brits are spending an increasing amount of time with “faceless technology”, meaning links between the young and elderly are being severed.
As reported by mirror.co.uk, Mr Umunna said: “Generational division extends far beyond the realm of politics, into most aspects of our daily lives.
“We clearly have a decision to make as to whether we simply accept these divisions as a regrettable fact of modern life, or whether we attempt to do something about them.”
In the 56-page report produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Integration, it was claimed people should play a role in "diverting our culture away from excessive individualism, which might lean towards isolation”.
One way of doing this, the MPs say, would be to explore the idea of a 1p-per-transaction charge on supermarket self-service checkouts.
The checkouts were branded "intimidating", "unfriendly" and a "miserable experience" by elderly people's housing charity Anchor.
The tax would be ringfenced, with funds going into "local intergenerational projects", rather than a government pot.
The MPs write: "The thinking behind this idea is that some of the technological changes we are seeing sweep through our society may bring major efficiencies and cost savings, but that these can come at the expense of valuable everyday human contact.
"If this is the case, then it might make sense to see if a fraction of those cost savings can be captured to put back into initiatives that support greater social interaction, in this case greater intergenerational connection.
"The APPG’s calculations suggest this policy might yield upwards of £30million per year to strengthen intergenerational projects across the country."
