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Do the Millennials moan too much?

(148 Posts)
whitewave Tue 14-Feb-17 15:46:47

About not having the same as we - the baby boomers- have?

I think that the latest report stating that pensioners are better off than the working family is vastly overstating the income for the majority of pensioners. It is almost certainly inflated by some extremely wealthy pensioners hitting the statistics.

Araabra Tue 14-Feb-17 16:18:00

I think the millennials are having a really rough go with prices and wages, by contrast boomers had it easy.

Ana Tue 14-Feb-17 16:26:03

I don't think whitewave intended the thread to be about how easy (or not) we had it back in the day, rather she's questioning the claim that most pensioners are better off than the average young working family.

It would be interesting to see the figures they're talking about - I'm pretty sure my income is nowhere near the 'average' for pensioners, and I am not living on the basic pension.

Rigby46 Tue 14-Feb-17 16:34:30

This report is not the millennials moaning too much but a proper academic piece of research from the Resolution Foundation, a think tank 'that works to improve the living standards of those in Britain on low to middle incomes'. This is its 4th report for the Intergenerstional Commission. It has trustees and staff from across the political spectrum.it scores an A for transparency in funding and receives grants from, inter alia, the Cadbury Trust and the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. The research is saying something far more complex than you suggest - for example it compares new cohorts of pensioners with their predecessors and says that record pensioner incomes are a product of the arrival of successive waves of better off pensioners. It looks at changes in inequalities both between and within different generations and states that higher income baby boomers saw much more generational progress than lower income boomers.I have to say ww that I was surprised to see that you were the op for this DM thread shock

Anya Tue 14-Feb-17 16:34:56

Average income for pensioners 2014-2015

Does the OP have a more up to date one?

whitewave Tue 14-Feb-17 16:38:12

Yes that's what I think ana I think the headline that we are better off than most working families is wrong. Particularly for women of our generation, as so many did not have careers and therefore often a tiny pension. Many women are only in the position they are in which is not necessarily well off because of their husbands pension.

I do agree that we may as a generation have more than previous generations, but considering the grinding poverty so many pensioners used to experience that isn't saying much.

Rigby46 Tue 14-Feb-17 16:38:25

It's not about average incomes for pensioners - it's much more complex than that but the average 'journalist' is incapable of or doesn't want to understand what the report is saying but wants a quick and dirty headline

whitewave Tue 14-Feb-17 16:39:08

No anya I don't - this is just an off the cuff reaction to the headlines.

Norah Tue 14-Feb-17 16:39:09

We are far better off than our Millennials and their families. Is that the question? The Millennials are due a moan. I'd be very interested in statistics showing pensions of the majority of the pensioners, a fact not in such articles.

mcem Tue 14-Feb-17 16:40:05

I'm in a similar position. Not living on basic pension but far from asset rich.
The cash I have (my own savings plus modest inheritance) is there for my family.
My own millennials aren't complaining as they know I'll help whenever necessary and for as long as possible.
I regret I don't have enough to get them on the housing ladder and that 2 of the 3 have accepted a future based on renting.

whitewave Tue 14-Feb-17 16:40:27

Oh!!! Not DM rig the BBC!!!!!

Rigby46 Tue 14-Feb-17 16:40:45

It is utter nonsense to link all pensioners together and draw any conclusions from the figures that emerge - which is why the report doesn't do it ( and neither does it for the millenials)

Ana Tue 14-Feb-17 16:41:17

There are articles in both the Independent and the FTAdviser Rigby.

Rigby46 Tue 14-Feb-17 16:42:13

Well I wouldn't know because I don't think much of BBC reporting on anything that involves an understanding of research and statistics.

whitewave Tue 14-Feb-17 16:43:07

That's me told then. I was just watching (well half and ear) to Newsnight and there were two younger and two older chatting. I just thought it worth a chat on GN that's all.

Anya Tue 14-Feb-17 16:44:55

The recent report I read showed a graph with incomes of working-age people against those of pensioners. It did seem to indicate that pensioners were better off, but while it showed that the average income for working-age people was only about £20,000 it's not as clear cut as that.

Average Salary UK 2016 / 2017. The average salary UK for the tax year ending 5 April 2015 was £27,600. This is a median average and an increase of 1.6% over the 2014 median average which was £27,200. These averages are for full time employees with data taken from the ONS Annual Average Salary Survey.

That figure of £20,000 includes part-time workers rather than full time, so that will skew the stats.

Rigby46 Tue 14-Feb-17 16:45:46

And did the I and the FT coverage address any of the points I raised and did they say that millennial a were moaning too much - in fact did the BBC coverage use that phrase? That type of phrase would typically come from a piece of vox pop research

whitewave Tue 14-Feb-17 16:48:05

Wish I hadn't started this now blush

Norah Tue 14-Feb-17 16:49:51

ww Is your post about the well deserved Millennial cost of goods moaning or our pensions?

mcem Tue 14-Feb-17 16:50:46

You're quite right ww. You spotted and posted an interesting topic which doesn't mean you agree or disagree.

Rigby46 Tue 14-Feb-17 16:52:00

Average incomes/ pensions tell us very little - that's why we need reports like this. It's just like using per capita incomes - you can have two countries with very very similar per capita incomes but it would tell us nothing about the range of incomes, the degree of inequality within those countries. Ranges, medians , percentiles, interquartiles etc are all needed for any meaningful understanding

Rigby46 Tue 14-Feb-17 16:53:08

ww it is an interesting topic but I don't think your moaning millennialist was very helpful or accurate

Norah Tue 14-Feb-17 16:54:29

Do they deserve a moan? Or not?

Rigby46 Tue 14-Feb-17 17:00:56

I've just read the Independent's story and it makes it quite clear that the report shows the differences between different groups of pensioners eg ' the poorest fifth of pensioner households are almost entirely reliant on benefits income ' compared with ' the top fifth of pensioner households account for 74% of employment income, 66% of investment income and 52% of occupational pension income'. Nowhere does it mention moaning millenials

Rigby46 Tue 14-Feb-17 17:02:20

But this report isn't about that. And yes, the poorest ones do and the richest pensioners should be grateful at how well off they are