Are pensioners perceived differently now?

Annep ,I am fortunate in as much as my children are better off financially than I am and they have told me to spend any money I have and not to save it for them.I have never been "used" by them at all regarding looking after my grandchildren when they were younger either.
Regarding the way older people are treated by others.....
When my husband and I were travelling on a tube train we both had to stand as there were no seats
A younger woman stood up for me and I thanked her and sat down.
Another younger woman who was sitting with a dog on her knee told me how terrible I was taking the seat when there was an old man still standing up.
I had great pleasure in telling her that my husband would not dream of sitting down if I were left without a seat.

barmy there have always been, will always be self centred people. Age is irrelevant. Just think it is not generational but to do with attitudes and values.

No matter how hard we try to bring up our own children, once they are old enough to go out and about by them selves starting at about 14/15 in the case of mine, they meet people who have been brought up differently and have different values. Our DCs are influenced by others. Then when they meet their parnter/spouse they spend more time with them than us. They are experiencing another set of differing views and opinions which could be purposely set at odds with out own views.
We cant influence our DCs all their lives. They make choices and sometimes or often not the choices we would have wished them to make

I think on reflection I was a bit harsh earlier about this generation, its just that a neighbour had put in for planning permission to build what looked like Buckingham Palace onto their very modest house. It would have completely over looked our property and cut out a great deal of light. When met to talk about it it was all about her needs and her investment in her property and our thoughts were completely dismissed. Good news is it was refused but I was feeling pretty fed up with all the work I had to put into getting the result.

We are all expected to be more active and make longer contributions to society in terms of work/tax. I am still working p/t at 68. I do not mind as I enjoy what I do

I think that some more mature folk cannot see the positive in anything and love to grumble. The younger people I know mostly work in public services or for charities. They did not go chasing big money or flashy lifestyles. Probably because their parents (our friends) did not encourage them to aspire to that consumerist lifestyle. They are passig that on to their kids. I do not suggest they are "do goody sack cloth and ashes." They know how to party and have fun but they are not absorbed with having stuff either! Good job as thy don't earn enough!

Nonnie re Facebook.
I don't know enough about it to judge it I admit but I keep getting emails telling me that certain people-even my granddaughter wants to be my Facebook friend.
Other people who I don't know apparently want to be my Fb friend as well!
I think when I first got a computer -in my 70s! -I must have done something so that my name is somewhere stored in the ether.
I spend enough time looking at this particular site without looking for more folk to get in touch with.
This probably isn't thev place to ask this next question but why would I want to contact somebody I know-like my granddaughter through Facebook ?

Only one of my grandparents lived beyond their 70's and I knew her as a little old lady, between OH and myself only one parent lived beyond their early 70's, our grandchildren have all their grandparents living one set well into their 80's obviously we are causing a log jam. I do agree with notanan 2 that the State Pension was not designed to be used as it now is and was expected to be paid for a few short years if at all. I'm slightly worried as people do give me a seat on the underground, I sometimes wonder if they think it will be more bother if I fall over!

My grandparents were all dead before I was born and my parents died before my children were born, so I have had no experience of any of this. My own grandchildren live too far away for anything except occasional babysitting.

When my grandparents retired they were OLD. not in todays terms, but they were much frailer than my parents were at the same age and didnt live as long. There were no cruises or trans continental train rides or new hobbies etc, regardless of budget they wouldnt have been ABLE to be that active. They were unfit to do much by the time they retired.

Pensions were not designed to support ACTIVE FIT people for decades. They were designed to sustain people who were too old to work in the twilight of their lives. And they are going to return to that format. I imagine that in future you will have to qualify as incapacitated to work in order to get a state pension, so there'll be no fit and active retirees once again.

I think that's a load of old tosh Nonnie. I've read a lot of posts on GN and some indicate quite clearly that the posters have no social conscience whatsoever, that they embrace the capitalist system which only works if people consume more and more, and object to properly supporting those in need. They are then surprised that younger people aren't considerate. Consideration and care has to be taught from an early age and an example set.

Pensioners are perceived differently because they ARE different

There hasnt been and wont be again generations that will qualify for potentially 40years of pensions.

My grandparents didnt expect to live much longer after retirement age.
I dont expect to retire until MUCH later than my parents did

Only my parents generation will benefit from the combination of retiring relatively early & potentially living on for a further 20, 30, 40 years!!

trisher I think they come from people who are not on this forum. Simple. The entitled people on the bus this morning who seemed to think they should over occupy seats while the elderly stood are not people I know and probably my children don't either. Obviously none of us know all types of people, mostly we know the people we associate with. Before anyone castigates me for saying that I don't know the people who are privileged either!

I agree things are different these days as we are a band of "ageing population" as the media point out frequently.I have never had to be a permanent child minder ie, having to collect or mind on regular days each week, but have helped out when needed.
I occasionally help out my Son who is a single parent and has two teenage boys, when its his turn to have them, the money doesnt always run to the amount of food they need, I say as long as I have money, they will never go without.
I was disturbed the other day hearing a person who works in a care home say " he is eighty years old and will die soon anyway" what a cheek I have three years to go before I am there, but how can younger people think like that these days, dont they realise we are all living longer and eighty is still quite young, I am fit and healthy thank goodness, how can people assume you have had it at a certain age? ignorant people I would say.

Ok and thanks Nonnie.Retreated yesterday as probably too tired for logical posting and I'm not the most succinct.Plus wanted to watch Luther .Not that that's relaxing just before bedtime either !
Westerlywind -oh dear,you sound really taken for granted.I will tell my DD when I feel they are expecting too much,and she will respect that.Another baby is on the way in spring,which is probably why I've been evaluating expectations of us,and also the balance between helping and interferring.
A good friend said when you become a grandma best advice is keep your mouth shut and your wallet open!
And I absoluely love to buy DGD the odd nice outfit or book as a treat,or a coffee or lunch for my DD if she is frazzled.But I won't fund their lifestyle.There again is a balance to be struck.Not easy !

Nonnie I think most of the comments are about young people in general not specifics.
But then where do these young people who are being so criticised come from?. Young people are someone's children. If they are so demanding and acquisitive where did they learn to be? I think it's a product of Thatcher and post Thatcher when people began to grab as much as they could, and that the young people who are so minded are simply taking the values they were taught then a bit further. So perhaps those complaining are simply reaping what they sowed.

Sorry, meant ‘ whenever she’ ‘ !

Washerwoman , please don’t leave the thread just because of paddyann, if everyone left a thread whenever shape was ridiculously harsh, nothing would ever get posted!

Anja's comment 'My own mother wouldn’t lift a finger to help. She was of the opinion that she’d done her share of child-rearing' sounds quite harsh to me, as I am not prepared to offer regular childcare to any grandchildren for various reasons. She also seems to be suggesting that her own mother deserved to be punished for this; I can't believe that some people actually think, 'Don't expect any help from me when you get old and needy because you wouldn't care for my children'. Having children is a choice; getting old is not.

harrigran DH did a pools round when DS1 was born and the mortgage rate was so high. We had no central heating. I couldn't go to work as we had no one to look after DS. I do think there are more options today.

trisher I think most of the comments are about young people in general not specifics. We are fortunate that our children have carried on being frugal as we always were. One of them gets a subsidised lunch at work the others all take home made food with them. They all learnt to cook fresh food and only rarely buy anything processed. They have no need of a new car or an expensive one. The result is that they have their own homes and enough money to live on. They are not competing with anyone and, although still climbing the work ladder, seem quite content with their lives. Many of their friends still rent because they are not frugal.

Laqncslass Why wouldn't you 'give Facebook house room'? There is nothing wrong with it, you choose who you want to be friends with and can keep your posts private. Coming on GN is public so you are far more likely to come across unpleasant things than you would on Fb!

Westerlywind that is truly awful. You need to be assertive. Lancslassyou haven't experienced it thankfully. But many of us are treated badly and are money trees. My children take great delight in laughing at me as I get older. Its not funny.

I am a pensioner and I think we are treated very well on the whole by younger folk.
They are not ageist.
I like the way I am called by my Christian name by youngsters.
Perhaps I have been fortunate but so far have never had the abuse mentioned.
Mind you,I wouldn't give Facebook house room.

I find today's mums to be very demanding. They expect parents (or in my case just me) to give money on demand or even sooner. They expect babysitting/childminding as and when they want. I could not even get to attend a Dr appointment without taking DGC. Dr said I could not cope with looking after DGC (ASD) with my health conditions. I told my DC who said that was rubbish. My DC is not a Dr! Even when I had an appointment for MRI when not even the staff hang around I was expected to take DGC. When I said I could not take DGC there was a great rant and rave and I am now in the bad books!
I just want to be a grandmother not a childminder.
I then realised that the only time I ever saw DC was when they dropped off DGC. They never just sat and chatted.

My parents and their two children lived with my maternal grandmother until I was 12 years old. Then she lived next door for a further ten years. She was very involved with looking after my brother and me throughout our childhood while my mother worked. We in our turn looked after her when she was living alone in her 90s. My parents looked after my children by providing wrap-round care between the ages of 6 and 12 so that I could retrain and get established in a new career when I was divorced. I now look after my mother as she is in her 90s. I try to help my DD, a single mother, with my DGCs as much as possible. I feel privileged to be able to continue a maternal line of help and support. However, I am much older than my mother was when she was helping me. As women have children later, the grandparents get older and many are unfortunately less physically active. Being a 'Squeezed Middle' is very tiring.

I think there may be more GP looking after GC nowadays as there are more young mothers working but it is not a new thing as many people here have said.
I believe the state pension is slightly higher than it used to be so pensioners do not live in such poverty as they did.
The problem is that social media and the press seems to be stirring up anti pensioner feeling/baby boomer bashing saying we are all rich and have what they should have. I don't find this is reflected in my family and friends. I was told recently (by someone young) that the younger generation feel they can be rude in writing (email/social media etc) in a way they would never be face to face and this does seem to be true for a lot of people.