Boomers - The Luckiest Generation?

I saw a post on Mumsnet recently, and felt quite sorry for the woman posting. She had a good salary and her husband was working too, though on a lesser salary. They had one child I think. It sounded like they were struggling financially, and I think that is true of many families these days.

When I married, my husband was in training in the NHS. I was working as a secretary. We had slightly subsidised NHS accommodation. When I had an unplanned baby, I stopped working for about 2 years.

Despite the fact that our income was very low, we still managed to heat our home properly and eat good food. There was a minimal amount for clothing and non-essentials but we certainly did not suffer a cold, damp home and have to scrimp on food - as many people have to do these days.

With both parents often working full time, they are still struggling from week to week. Rents are extremely high and rental contracts are limited to one year and can then be terminated. Energy, petrol, council tax, parking charges, water bills, and huge nursery fees are much more of an issue now than they were years ago. Getting together enough money to save a mortgage deposit feels like an impossibility for more and more people.

Yes, we did not earn so much - and we did pay very high interest on mortgages for some years - but I would still argue that we were much better off.

And now - because we were able to afford to buy our own home (and I appreciate that some older people are still having to rent and are suffering similar problems to families), we do not have the worry of increasing rent and maintenance charges that are out of our control. We are financially comfortable - not because we worked any harder than the people these days but because my husband had a good final salary pension scheme (which are like gold dust these days). The older people in our road are having all sorts of major works done to their homes so they too seem very comfortable.

I can understand why young people feel trapped and resentful.

Different times had different expectations and values. Some things are harder now - other things are better. Food was proportionally more expensive and basic- backin the 50/60/ 70s so leaving a table still hungry was the norm. We very rarely eat out - so much so I remember both occasions we did - Welsh rabbit on toast with my grandparents in a seaside cafe and a meal in a Berni inn about 10 years later. Getting married with very little was also the norm- no one expected a kitchen with more than a sink and something to cook on. Buying a small flat ( very high interest rates) took all of my husbands salary, most of mine and any overtime my husband could find- ( I didn’t get paid overtime) especially after the interest rates spiralled.We put off having a family because - just like todays couples- we struggled to afford it. The flat had no heating but I was able to buy an old night storage heater from a shop being demolished- and borrow a car to collect it- joy!
My sister died from a blood cancer that is now much more survivable and as her twin I would have been a perfect bone marrow donor.
However I was lucky to have a university grant so did not leave university with debt. I was able to find Saturday and holiday work from the age of 14. We were able to hold onto our little flat and once interest rates dropped a bit we bought a small house. It took many years to do it up - put in heating - some warmer windows and a washing machine ( bought second hand)

It is the I want everything now generation and they cannot seem to be able to save up and wait.
I was born in 1950, remember rationing and we lived in two rooms in my grandma’s house. We then had a new council house followed by a self build bungalow which took mum and dad two years to build with 25 others on the street. We had no telephone until I was 11 or a car until that age. Holidays were a no go until I was 14 . I always had a part time Saturday or holiday job and my first salary as a teacher was £70 a month. My first car was £100 which I paid for with my 21st birthday money. I have never been hungry, homeless or unemployed but I have been hard up, never overdrawn and terrified when I bought out my ex then the interest went up to 17% so I took lodgers. I am not complaining as I had no debt but life hasn’t always been easy, just got on with it. Didn’t have mums coffee mornings or my nails done every week. Bought second hand clothes and by umpiring netball I had a bit of spare cash. If I couldn’t afford it I didn’t have it. I stick to this mantra today!

rafichagran

To be fair, my adult son and daughter are not like that l was born 1957 so a boomer.

Our children and theirs are not at all displeased with their lives either. I was born around 80 yrs ago, not a boomer, our first is 62, then 61, 43, 41. I don't fancy arguments pitting people one against another - ours don't.

There’s an old saying, “The harder you work the luckier you get.”

We aren’t boomers, we are members of the silent generation. It was our 60th wedding anniversary yesterday and we were sharing our memories: DH didn’t have a stag night and I didn’t have a hen night, young people now seem to have extravagant holidays with their friends. I bought my wedding dress in C & A, my parents paid for a reception for friends and family after our wedding ceremony and we left to go to London for three days. When we returned we moved into a one bedroomed flat which had mice in, we had hardly any furniture but we returned to work and saved up to get a deposit together for our first house. Our first holiday was when I returned to work eight years after our first son was born. Life wasn’t the bed of roses the younger generation seem to think it was.

To be fair, my adult son and daughter are not like that l was born 1957 so a boomer.

My post war childhood would now be seen as dire poverty. We had no car, phone, hot water system, fridge, holidays, but I grew up cared for, in a friendly, quiet community in a country at peace. As a young married woman I still did not have the luxuries of a washing machine, central heating, or a car, and all that we possess today we have worked hard for. The comments that make my blood boil are those about how much my house is worth. Do I sell it, incurring removal expenses of at the very least £20,000, or do I stay here where I am happy and leave the house to my children? The people who whine about wealthy boomers in big houses are the ones who will benefit from the sale of such properties; the value of my house is an irrelevance to me, I have to live somewhere, and the rise in house prices is not the fault of today's pensioners. This loathsome attitude of carping nasty jealousy is just awful - do we all have to be poor, miserable and have had an awful life before some are content? I believe that as a Baby Boomer I have been blessed, and part of a lucky generation, enjoying the zenith of the 20th Century. Most of those feelings are not centred on money or material gains.

"As a little girl I always wanted a pair of black patent party shoes- never had them"
So did I, never got them though, had to have a pair of serviceable shoes. I kicked of in the shoe shop because I wanted the patent one. My nan slapped me in the shop in front if everyone. Lesson learned.

I was born during the war and I remember a chilly childhood living with my parents in my grandmother's house above a shop. No bathroom - we washed at the sink in the scullery. The toilet was outside in a cold outhouse where spiders lurked. My parents had no money. My father had a series of low-paid jobs (window-cleaning, shop work). Later in my childhood we moved to a small house with a bathroom and indoor toilet.
I passed the 11 plus and went to grammar school and university. University fees were free then and, based on my parents' low income. I also received a full maintenance grant from my local authority for the whole of my time at university.
So there were good and bad aspects to being a war baby. I don't think it's possible to single out particular eras as being the best time to be born - swings and roundabouts.
I missed out in terms of career opportunities and pension. When I left work to have my first baby I had to resign and subsequently discovered that when I reached pension age I had not paid in enough to get a full pension. In the 1960s women were encouraged to opt to pay a lower level of national insurance (a "married women's stamp"") and that is what I had chosen to do without being made aware of the ramifications. Swings and roundabouts.
I was delighted to get my free bus pass at the earliest opportunity and have certainly had my money's worth out of it. I shall continue to use it as long as my knees/hips hold out lsufficiently to enable me to get on a bus. I'm sad that my parents didn't live long enough to witness the "bus pass" era. It would have meant the world to them as they never had a car and had only a very limited amount to spend on extras such as bus fares.

I worry for the young of today. I fear they may not be the luckiest generation.

I was born in 1959 - have 2 younger brothers. My father went out to work- not earning a huge amount and my mother stayed at home to look after us. We were never taken out to a restaurant ( my parents could never have afforded it) a big treat was take away fish and chips, just one holiday a year on the Isle of Wight- I never travelled aboard until I was 21- modest presents at Xmas and birthdays- at 14 we had to find Saturday jobs and then save up for things we wanted. As a little girl I always wanted a pair of black patent party shoes- never had them as my parents could only afford school winter shoes and school summer sandals

I'm 70 and despite my 'gold plated' pension I struggle to make ends meet - not little enough to get pension credit, but not enough to be able to stay completely warm without the winter fuel allowance. My mortgage has over 8 years still to run. The buses where I live are pretty useless so I drive a 17 year old car which thankfully scraped through the MOT this month at a cost. I use my bus pass when I visit my family -my 4 year old grandson finds a ride on the bus quite exciting!

Younger people have much higher expectations than we had when their age. My first foreign holiday was a school trip as a teenager. I grew up in a house with no fridge, TV or telephone! When I bought my first home all my furniture was second hand, with many items coming from my great aunt who had moved in with my mum in her old age, and was living in my childhood bedroom so I had all her white goods, including a very ancient twin tub washing machine.

Thankfully I manage to live very cheaply as I learnt to make do and mend from a young age and have reasonable expectations. I volunteer at the local food bank and was shocked to hear that some of our clients regularly treat themselves at the local costa, something I can't afford to do.

I don't begrudge my adult children their standard of living. They work hard and deserve what they have. I helped them out when they needed it early in their careers, and now they subsidise me at times. Neither do they begrudge me my pension or my bus pass!

The title actually referred to old people aged sixty and older, which is very insulting. We were also referred to as “these people,” which many of us found insulting.
I don't think I'll bother to go over to Mumsnet and read that.
I hope that's not the general mindset over there.

Thank goodness none of my children, nephews, nieces nor any of their friends seem to have that attitude.

Jaxjacky

LadyGaGa

You think you had it hard? I had to get up half an hour before I went to bed, eat a piece of hot coal before working 29 hours a day down t’pit for tuppence a month. When we got home our dad would hit us round the head with a broken bottle ….. if we were lucky!
(Loosely by courtesy of Mr Monty Python 🤣)

I wondered if anyone else was thinking that!

😂

LadyGaGa

You think you had it hard? I had to get up half an hour before I went to bed, eat a piece of hot coal before working 29 hours a day down t’pit for tuppence a month. When we got home our dad would hit us round the head with a broken bottle ….. if we were lucky!
(Loosely by courtesy of Mr Monty Python 🤣)

I wondered if anyone else was thinking that!

MaiBea

I’m a boomer born 1957 and I think although we had our challenges we also had some amazing chances with education, world of work and getting on the housing ladder that are just not available to our children or grandchildren. What I’m so sad about is that the generations are pitted against each other instead of supporting each other, I wish that didn’t happen 😊

What I’m so sad about is that the generations are pitted against each other instead of supporting each other, I wish that didn’t happen 😊

I agree. That Intergenerational Foundation has a lot to answer for.

Every generation has its challenges.

Very interesting life stories. I realise that I have been fortunate throughout my life, but even my sixties-born generation, who were born in a time of optimism knew exactly what could be afforded and what could not. We still played out in groups of friends with minimal supervision and used our imaginations. Most of us went to comprehensive schools, but corporal punishment was still the ultimate deterrent (not for girls, as far as I am aware) and l well remember blackboard rubbers being thrown by teachers. I was fortunate enough to go to musk college and gain a degree. This was the mid-eighties and I had a marvellous time. I shared a house and there was no central heating. The mid-eighties had several very cold, snowy winters and it was a case of quickly getting dressed next to a less than adequate fan heater then running downstairs to put on the two dated and probably very dangerous gas fires. We bought a black and white sixties TV and a single tub and spin dryer, to save the astronomical costs of the launderette, of equal vintage from an auction. The spin dryer would dance all over the kitchen floor unless we sat on it. In my first year, I swapped from violin to viola as my second instrument. I was able to borrow one from the college to start with, but soon needed one of my own. I bought one for £300 from a fellow student - a fortune in 1984 - and it was the first time I had a bank loan, which I methodically paid back. In 1989, l got married. The ceremony was at my church and the reception was in a nearby village hall with outside caterers. There was dancing in the evening and our honeymoon was in Scotland. My husband had a house and, until we got married, had lodgers. Much of the furniture was second hand (as it is to this day, but now more coordinated and better quality). We had two TVs - one of which was my portable TV - and a washing machine and we both had hi-fi, but that was it. Our three children were born in the nineties. We had friends who were in negative equity and the number of house repossessions was frightening. We bought a second hand tumble dryer as we had very little indoor space for drying clothes. DH’s parents were abroad and sent us a cheque for all of us for Christmas the year our oldest child was born. We spent it on a microwave as we knew we would get a lot of use out of it and they were expensive at the time. We had very little money at that time and I can remember losing a £5 note and bursting into tears because that was all the money I had. As time progressed, we earned more money and life gradually became more secure. We are certainly comfortably off now and have benefited from an inheritance, but we have worked hard as well and our oldest child is disabled so has needed extra help. I think l was incensed by the pettiness of the idea of the bus pass being revoked for older people. The title actually referred to old people aged sixty and older, which is very insulting. We were also referred to as “these people,” which many of us found insulting. Of course, the next generation has its own struggles, but quibbling over the bus pass seems ageist, envious and extremely petty to me.

Romola

A 50-ish professor of history whom I know, he says we're the luckiest generation. (In fact, I'm a war baby.)
I think it's true. We reached adulthood after a tough childhood so we knew, and still know, how to make the best of what we have.
Our first home after we were married in the mid-60s was a flat at the top of a house belonging to an elderly widow. We had a crummy kitchen and a bed-sitter and we shared a bathroom with another young couple who lived downstairs.
It was cheap and were able to save the deposit for a house. We got a council mortgage on an old house and did lots of DIY, as did our friends. My point is that it was possible, and that's the big difference between then and now.
DS and DD were able to get their own places with minimal help from us around the millennium. But we've made financial arrangements for the benefit of the GC

It was only possible by going without, though, even with two salaries.

I was born in 1952 and was very fortunate that we were wealthy, so had plenty of everything including big cars and holidays overseas.
However, my Dad wouldn't contribute to my 3rd level education. I had to make a paltry grant intended for 27 weeks last for 52 weeks a year, paying rent, buying books, clothing, existing. Of course I had part time jobs, where I was paid a half or two thirds what the boys were getting for doing exactly the same.
I was sometimes hungry, I walked everywhere day-to-day and hitch-hiked longer distances. I couldn't attend my graduation because I hadn't the requisite smart black clothes and shoes.
I know my problems were those of the "privileged middle class", but it was tough enough. I couldn't go on to be a barrister, as I wished, because I couldn't afford to.
My husband and I paid 16% on our first mortgage, whilst paying 65 % income tax and had, literally, zero disposable income.
Our first holiday together was a few days in a tent in Northumberland 😀.

V3ra

^I have noticed a difference in the chat of young hairdressers to the extent I now watch what I say.^
Talk about cars, holiday's abroad, designer clothes, £100 squandered on a night out or a week-end away is fading away.

A few years ago I listened to a young hairdresser and another customer complaining about the cost of housing.
Then the hairdresser said her boyfriend was having a full day session at the tattoo parlour.
Cost? £350.

"Ahh, but that's an investment" they both agreed...

I saw the ultimate in tattoos on the news the other day.
A man has had the barcode from his Tesco loyalty card tattooed on his wrist so he need never worry about forgetting his card.

I don't see how else they are going to be able to do it. Unfair on some, I know.
I hope this government will be able to provide more properly subsidised housing.

A 50-ish professor of history whom I know, he says we're the luckiest generation. (In fact, I'm a war baby.)
I think it's true. We reached adulthood after a tough childhood so we knew, and still know, how to make the best of what we have.
Our first home after we were married in the mid-60s was a flat at the top of a house belonging to an elderly widow. We had a crummy kitchen and a bed-sitter and we shared a bathroom with another young couple who lived downstairs.
It was cheap and were able to save the deposit for a house. We got a council mortgage on an old house and did lots of DIY, as did our friends. My point is that it was possible, and that's the big difference between then and now.
DS and DD were able to get their own places with minimal help from us around the millennium. But we've made financial arrangements for the benefit of the GC

I have noticed a difference in the chat of young hairdressers to the extent I now watch what I say.
Talk about cars, holiday's abroad, designer clothes, £100 squandered on a night out or a week-end away is fading away.

A few years ago I listened to a young hairdresser and another customer complaining about the cost of housing.
Then the hairdresser said her boyfriend was having a full day session at the tattoo parlour.
Cost? £350.

"Ahh, but that's an investment" they both agreed...

I was born in 1947 ,had a lovely childhood,free, playing outside ,in the woods,.Food was plain but nourishing ,much excitement when we could get spaghetti in a tin.I did nurse training but from then on it was either a grotty bedsit to live in ,no hope of earning enough to buy a house.Single women were doomed to live with parents or a horrible bedsit.Life for a single woman was financially poor.


.

You think you had it hard? I had to get up half an hour before I went to bed, eat a piece of hot coal before working 29 hours a day down t’pit for tuppence a month. When we got home our dad would hit us round the head with a broken bottle ….. if we were lucky!
(Loosely by courtesy of Mr Monty Python 🤣)

My GD recently moved back home to save money. On £30,000
she hated paying £800 pm for a flat share. Fair enough.
What slightly shocked me is that she objected to her Father asking for £200 pm for her keep. Didn't he know 'all her friends live at home for free'. So unfair, Nanny, so unfair!!!
As he subs her generously - her car for eg. - I suggested she sucked it up and thought about the generous bounty she receives from all her family.