WFA, bus pass, triple lock,

People in younger generations forget that many pensioners still work in an employed job and are therefore paying tax. Or they work as carers or volunteers, thus saving the country thousands of pounds.

There is this misapprehension of all pensioners as "rich boomers" (how I hate that expression) who are sitting on their asses in million pound houses. When in fact for every rich pensioner that are probably two who are struggling or just about managing. The problem is that the just about managing are probably going to be pushed into poverty by this short sighted measure and the prices being charged by greedy power companies.

There must be some method of ensuring that the necessary funds go to people who are on the cusp (because of a small occupational pension) and not giving them to people who are still comfortably off. The WFP should be available to everyone who is on a means tested benefit - including housing and council tax benefit.

I wouldn't take it personal

There have been many posts on here critical of other generations, it is just something people do.

Peple are saying that the state pension is more than a single young person on UC gets. Well it is difficult for many pensioners to improve their income due to infirmity and health problems. Not to mention employer ageism. In contrast the "single young person" on UC should get off their ass and look for work.

biglouis

Peple are saying that the state pension is more than a single young person on UC gets. Well it is difficult for many pensioners to improve their income due to infirmity and health problems. Not to mention employer ageism. In contrast the "single young person" on UC should get off their ass and look for work.

It should be more!

biglouis

Peple are saying that the state pension is more than a single young person on UC gets. Well it is difficult for many pensioners to improve their income due to infirmity and health problems. Not to mention employer ageism. In contrast the "single young person" on UC should get off their ass and look for work.

The problem with that is that people with disabilities have to claim it (they get a premium on top if severe disability) and a lot of these people will be unable to work. My daughter claims it but her contribution to care means most of it goes back into the system via the local authority anyway.

Everyone wants better services but will usually want someone else to pay.

I have just had a look on MN what was being said... If you continue reading I think most agree more than disagree now it's not fair.

I can certainly understand young people's grievances about the older generation.. We had so many more advantages... not only free University and a grant, it was much easier to buy a house because we didn't have to jump through hoops to get a mortgage, the start of cheap flights and holidays, a really good dental system, easily accessible NHS, proper contracts for employment, better social care, no worry yet about climate change, really the list goes on.. we were a blessed generation really

pascal30

I can certainly understand young people's grievances about the older generation.. We had so many more advantages... not only free University and a grant, it was much easier to buy a house because we didn't have to jump through hoops to get a mortgage, the start of cheap flights and holidays, a really good dental system, easily accessible NHS, proper contracts for employment, better social care, no worry yet about climate change, really the list goes on.. we were a blessed generation really

But only a very small percentage went to University, probably less than 5% of my age group of girls, possibly more of the boys.

Girls at my Grammar school, even those in the 'A' stream, went to Teacher Training College, Technical College or into the Civil Service and took the Civil Service exams.

because we didn't have to jump through hoops to get a mortgage
Mortgage rates were 15% at one point.
But we're not allowed to mention that.

Yes and we had huge interest rates,no maternity leave. (I had to resign from my teaching post), no child allowance for the first child, heavy pushchairs which had to be collapsed when getting on buses,the cheap flights and holidays were difficult to get if you were a single mum with one child.Mortgages were 2 1/2 times salary with no exceptions.Power cuts, towelling nappies to boil, and so it goes on . I think most generations have their difficulties.

I think most generations have their difficulties

Yes, they do and feeling resentful is such a negative emotion.

Psi didn't mean you, westendgirl, I mean younger generations being resentful of older people.

Callistemon213

pascal30

I can certainly understand young people's grievances about the older generation.. We had so many more advantages... not only free University and a grant, it was much easier to buy a house because we didn't have to jump through hoops to get a mortgage, the start of cheap flights and holidays, a really good dental system, easily accessible NHS, proper contracts for employment, better social care, no worry yet about climate change, really the list goes on.. we were a blessed generation really

But only a very small percentage went to University, probably less than 5% of my age group of girls, possibly more of the boys.

Girls at my Grammar school, even those in the 'A' stream, went to Teacher Training College, Technical College or into the Civil Service and took the Civil Service exams.

because we didn't have to jump through hoops to get a mortgage
Mortgage rates were 15% at one point.
But we're not allowed to mention that.

Yes Callistemon I appreciate that everyone will have a different experience but I didn't have much money as a widowed single parent but even at 15% it was still easier to get a mortgage.. and when I trained as a nurse I got my fees paid and an allowance for my child.. and mortgage interest paid for a while by the State... none of this is possible now..

westendgirl

Yes and we had huge interest rates,no maternity leave. (I had to resign from my teaching post), no child allowance for the first child, heavy pushchairs which had to be collapsed when getting on buses,the cheap flights and holidays were difficult to get if you were a single mum with one child.Mortgages were 2 1/2 times salary with no exceptions.Power cuts, towelling nappies to boil, and so it goes on . I think most generations have their difficulties.

Hear, hear

I think people are looking back with rose-tinted spectacles and green eyes.

It really wasn't a case of "You've never had it so good".

Some people are struggling today but I don't remember very many single people who took out a mortgage, it took two salaries to be able to save up for years and there are far more single parent families now than back then who may be struggling. Why?

Even with a grant, university was for the children of more affluent parents. Most had to leave school, get a job and make their contribution to the family budget.
Cars? Few had cars. Phones? Run to the phone box in the pouring rain.
Holidays abroad? A trip to France if you were lucky or went to work as an au pair.

Not all pensioners are rich boomers but I would guess 75%+ could manage perfectly well without the age related benefits.
It saves £billions which can be spent where it really matters, changes are long overdue and the have to be made fairly.

80 is the new 60 the benefit system has to reflect the lifespan we live today.

I did get a scholarship for Uni, but my parents had to help me out as the grant was means tested .In 1961 a new teacher could expect to earn £570 per year . I think my first pay check was about £48. My husband was a teacher and it took us ages to save enough to by a house. It was hard to get a mortgage . It wasn't always better then . Perhaps Mumsnet needs to do some research.

Pascal. That’s not my take on it. As far as I am concerned life for many of us was hard, most leaving school to go to work at 15, or 16 if they ‘ stayed on’ to do a couple of gce’s.

No one I knew went to university and when I eventually studied for my degree as a 30 something mature student in the 80 s I was in a tiny cohort of about 6% of the population. Anyone going to a university before then were truly privileged and in an even smaller cohort.

Dont know about not having to jump through hoops to get a mortgage, buying a house wasn’t easy, a 5% or 10% deposit was always required and it took two of us to work and save fir that deposit while renting a damp dismal flat. No bank of mum and dad in those days. Mortgage rates were as high as 17% never under 10% so forgive me if I can’t get too exercised about mortgage interest going up to 4 or 5%… from a low of 2%. From our point of view it would have been a dream.

All our furniture was second hand from friends and family, nothing new, which we painted bright colours and were grateful. We never went out, lived on the cheapest sausages and mince meat and had to watch every penny in our first decade of marriage. After that it was every other penny. %

As for travel our children ( not just mine but many) have travelled the world, places I can only dream of and now probably too old to cope with. Their working lives don’t begin until their mid 20 s a full 10 years after mine did.

I am happy about the opportunities our children have, they are lucky having more access to higher education, travel and living in far flung places, what wonderful experiences, everything that we never had, but am cross about this ridiculous resentment coming from youngsters and others, who should know better, about us supposedly having had it easier than our children.

Speaking for myself and many others too, who started work young our lives have not been easy. We went without a lot to save a deposit and pay the extortionate mortgage. Our houses were not always worth a fortune z( still aren’t) and have obviously increased in value over the last 50 years just as those our children buy now will increase. It doesn’t make us any richer though because we have to live somewhere.

David49

Not all pensioners are rich boomers but I would guess 75%+ could manage perfectly well without the age related benefits.
It saves £billions which can be spent where it really matters, changes are long overdue and the have to be made fairly.

80 is the new 60 the benefit system has to reflect the lifespan we live today.

80 is the new 60 Speak for yourself.

Life expectancy improvements have been slow for the last decade, and the latest estimates of life expectancy at birth are back to the same level as 2010 to 2012 for females and slightly below the 2010 to 2012 level for males.

Life expectancy at birth in the UK in 2020 to 2022 was 78.6 years for males and 82.6 years for females; compared with 2017 to 2019, life expectancy has fallen by 38 weeks from 79.3 years for males and by 23 weeks from 83.0 years for females.

So life expectancy is going down and may well go down further if we have a hard winter.

Most of us are concerned about those who are not eligible for pension credit but will still struggle to pay their heating bills.

but I would guess 75%+ could manage perfectly well without the age related benefits.
I'm not sure where you got that percentage from.
Is that from the ONS or a Government website?

pascal30

I can certainly understand young people's grievances about the older generation.. We had so many more advantages... not only free University and a grant, it was much easier to buy a house because we didn't have to jump through hoops to get a mortgage, the start of cheap flights and holidays, a really good dental system, easily accessible NHS, proper contracts for employment, better social care, no worry yet about climate change, really the list goes on.. we were a blessed generation really

Well you might have been, but I certainly wasn’t.
It wasn’t at all easy to buy a house for us, and we couldn’t afford any flights until we were in our forties. Money was extremely tight whilst we raised our family.

westendgirl

I did get a scholarship for Uni, but my parents had to help me out as the grant was means tested .In 1961 a new teacher could expect to earn £570 per year . I think my first pay check was about £48. My husband was a teacher and it took us ages to save enough to by a house. It was hard to get a mortgage . It wasn't always better then . Perhaps Mumsnet needs to do some research.

Yes, I got a State Scholarship but even so, could take it up for family reasons.
Technical College, day release from work and night school was readily available then.

could take it up for family reasons.
Could not take it up.

My spelling and grammar was better then 😁

silverlining your post resonates with me. You describe our situation so well. I was lucky enough to go to Teacher Training College, and enjoyed my teaching in the early years of my marriage, but as someone else said, there was no maternity leave and no maternity pay.