intergenerational warfare? I hope not

It is how life goes, we start out in life with vey little and, for many people, gradually acquire more.

We started in life in a rented flat, saved the deposit for our first house, struggled to get a mortgage at a time when mortgages were severely rationed and looked at the comfort and style our parents lived in (and it was not one of enormous affluance) and reckoned that with the way house prices were escalating we were never likely to be able to afford to live in a house like theirs or emulate their lifestyle.

Not so different from today's generation. Admittedly, for the few who went to university, and we were among them, there were no fees and maintenance grants, but we had mortgage interest rates that rarely fell below 8% throughout our mortgage term and at times went to 10%+. I can remember times when nearly half our income went out in housing costs.

Now, of course, with our mortgage paid off, children flown the nest, and reasonable pensions we have a comfortable lifestyle, but part of that is because, as I have worked most of my life and always paid full NI stamp, I have a full state pension and an occupational pension.

For some reason younger people today seem to expect to start where we have finished and conveniently forget the struggles we had to get where we are. They should realise that they have to do what every generation before them had to do, and that is start at te bottom and work up. What that means will be different for evey generation. For my parents and grandparents that meant risking life and limb in two World Wars, for us it was cheaper houses, but sky high interest rates. University and huge loans are not essential, many young people choose different routes into work. They just do what young people have done since time began and work and save they way up. It is jut that the route changes with every generation.