Stop blaming Pensioners

If young parents think we had it easy then have they stopped to think that without their Mums free childminding for them they would not be able to go to work.

Then there are those, like myself who gave up their careers to look after elderly parents, in my case 14 years.

I think most of my generation worked hard, raised families on very little and then took over care of their parents and grandchildren.

Callistemon21

Primrose53

I don’t think a lot of younger people realise how we struggled to bring up our children when there were no tax credits, top ups, free school meals for early years, free nursery places etc.
And a mortgage interest rate of 17%!!

We had to pay for everything. If you couldn’t pay you didn’t go. I remember being first in queue at PO on family allowance day.

I hear young Mums talking about all the things they do like spa days, afternoon teas, girly meals out and I could never have afforded those. These are not Mums in high paid jobs either, just the hairdresser, beautician etc.

I had a 😲 moment when I was watching the news the other day and a young mother at a baby sensory group said that with the cost of living crisis she'd had to cut down on classes for the baby; they only did baby sensory classes and swimming classes now each week.
The baby looked to be about three months old.

Baby sensory seemed to consist of babies lying on their backs with mothers shaking things in front of their eyes, showing them shiny objects, peering into their face singing to them, giving them tummy time etc, at a tenner a session.

How did ours manage to be stimulated without attending these large groups?
Wish I'd thought of starting groups like that, I could be a millionaire by now.

That made me laugh! Do they think shaking mirrors, feeling textures etc makes the kid super bright? Some of the very brightest kids I ever met came from big families where they were loved but there wasn’t much time for individual stimulation.

I do think the vastly increased cost of housing (rent and mortgages) compared to salaries, has a great deal to do with it.
I see the soaring costs of rents around here - never mind house prices - and do wonder how young people on fairly ordinary salaries can ever save a deposit.

Rent of a nothing-special 2 bed flat near here used to be £1400-1500 barely 2 years ago. Now it’s much more likely to be £2000 or even more, and I simply don’t believe that it’s all down to higher interest rates. I know for a fact that at least some of the properties were bought well before prices started soaring into the stratosphere.

Yes Granmarderby I agree. Of course I wasn’t responding to the trolls as I didn’t see the exchange, I only saw what Dickens has reported about it. Yes, probably best ignored. What a sad world though.

Well said ShillyShally.

maddyone these are not “normal people” replying to others opinions and who feel strongly about some subject though are they?
No they are hate-mongers and could be one or several person(s) as such anonymity allows. They could be either gender and are just as likely to be “mature” as not.
As is always the case with trolls online, NEVER feed them.

They are by nature, sad sacks of humanity who are desperate to use any handle they have on women in particular to spew out their sexist, ageist, racist, misogyny, and revel on our shocked responses to their bile.

Just move on as though they were ghosts.

yellowfox

I worked from being 16 till I was 65 and brought up my child single handed when I was divorced. I never claimed any benefits whatsoever and still don't. Having retired I now help out with some charities. I wonder how many young people of today will be doing that in the future.
It annoys me when the State Pension is referred to as a benefit as we have paid in to this most of our working life.. How anyone can begrudge pensioners getting help with fuel costs is beyond me. I will accept mine and be grateful for it.
Sadly, the trouble with some of todays society is a sense of entitlement and and wanting something for nothing without putting in the effort to obtain it.

The younger people’s argument is that the NI rates were lower when pensioners paid it and pensioners could easily buy houses with mortgages three times their earnings whereas the current generation have to get mortgages many times their earnings or can’t get mortgages at all. They overlook the many benefits we didn’t get.

There has always been some rivalry between the generations but the rudeness dished out to Dickens is disgusting.

Saggi That is because it hasn't been paid out yet, but will be by the end of November.

We both hit 80 this year (DH is your twin, Charleygirl) and have both received letters about our entitlement, but no money has yet been received.

£600 ?!? …..I’ve never seen that amount from government go into my bank🤷🏻‍♀️

I worked from being 16 till I was 65 and brought up my child single handed when I was divorced. I never claimed any benefits whatsoever and still don't. Having retired I now help out with some charities. I wonder how many young people of today will be doing that in the future.
It annoys me when the State Pension is referred to as a benefit as we have paid in to this most of our working life.. How anyone can begrudge pensioners getting help with fuel costs is beyond me. I will accept mine and be grateful for it.
Sadly, the trouble with some of todays society is a sense of entitlement and and wanting something for nothing without putting in the effort to obtain it.

I worked from 17 until 65, a total of 48 yrs, during which I paid tax and national insurance. I feel that I am entitled to whatever benefits I can now get

Agree 100%

I never lose sight of the huge contribution I have made to the community through the work I did and the taxes I paid.

I worked from 17 until 65, a total of 48 yrs, during which I paid tax and national insurance. I feel that I am entitled to whatever benefits I can now get as a 70plus lady, having paid my dues for all those years.

Young Mothers do seem to think babies need stimulation all day long, my own DD’s did/do.
Add to that expense all kinds of must have clothes, toys and equipment.
It’s a much more materialistic society now, even for people that really haven’t much money, they still think lots of stuff is necessary.

I dislike the intergenerational 'war'

Oh dear, I hope it didn't sound as if I was adding to it!
I wasn't, but I was astonished at what is thought to be a necessary part of a tiny baby's life now by clever, persuasive advertising.

Primrose53

I don’t think a lot of younger people realise how we struggled to bring up our children when there were no tax credits, top ups, free school meals for early years, free nursery places etc.
And a mortgage interest rate of 17%!!

We had to pay for everything. If you couldn’t pay you didn’t go. I remember being first in queue at PO on family allowance day.

I hear young Mums talking about all the things they do like spa days, afternoon teas, girly meals out and I could never have afforded those. These are not Mums in high paid jobs either, just the hairdresser, beautician etc.

I had a 😲 moment when I was watching the news the other day and a young mother at a baby sensory group said that with the cost of living crisis she'd had to cut down on classes for the baby; they only did baby sensory classes and swimming classes now each week.
The baby looked to be about three months old.

Baby sensory seemed to consist of babies lying on their backs with mothers shaking things in front of their eyes, showing them shiny objects, peering into their face singing to them, giving them tummy time etc, at a tenner a session.

How did ours manage to be stimulated without attending these large groups?
Wish I'd thought of starting groups like that, I could be a millionaire by now.

NotSpaghetti

Dickens you have obviously been very badly treated with this! How rude some people are.

I wasn't implying you were rude to others but was looking at where the word had come from and I had read it developed as a retort.

Apologies if it sounded dismissive or barbed. It wasn't my intention.

👍👍

I dislike the intergenerational 'war'. Each generation has to cope with what life throws at them. I don't compare what I did as a young person with what young people do now - different times, different circumstances and a different culture.

I think though that my experience online was something more than just the usual intergenerational argy-bargy. The individuals I was dealing with were very unpleasant men with some very deep 'obsessions' about women; their reference to my being old was simply another weapon for them to use. Basically, they didn't like being corrected by a woman. Which is of course a completely different topic!

Dickens you have obviously been very badly treated with this! How rude some people are.

I wasn't implying you were rude to others but was looking at where the word had come from and I had read it developed as a retort.

Apologies if it sounded dismissive or barbed. It wasn't my intention.

growstuff no one pays tax on pension contributions, not even 18 year olds. However I am paying tax on the income it provides me with, and, of course VAT, Council tax, car tax etc etc. if all pensioners wee to disappear overnight, the economy would collapse.

ShillyShally
I hope you put that on Mumsnet, in reply to the poster!!

maddyone

^OK Boomer, but you’re talking sh*t like most of your generation.^

Oh dear Dickens what a horrible thing to have said to you. It doesn’t say much for the way that extremely rude younger person was brought up.

Oh, it got even worse!

Because I knew what I was talking about - knew the subject because it was a field I'd been working in - I stood my ground and listed the different types and grades of tarmac.

Out of the proverbial 'woodwork' crawled a couple of other charmers who joined in the 'conversation' and proceeded to 'talk' to each other about the deluded daft old bat.

I looked at their FB profiles to see that I was dealing with - there were no indications that these individuals were genuine... their profiles were of cars / and a mythological type of war character.

There are those who trawl the 'net looking to denigrate and verbally abuse women - and old women are a particular 'tasty' target.

I reported their posts - with no belief that they'd be removed.

And they weren't.

There's a whole army of unpleasant people on Facebook - and probably on other SM sites too... bitter, nasty - possibly the type who make threats of violence etc. But that's another topic.

Anyone who's been quite active on social media will have come across the "OK Boomer" slur. There are even T-shirts for sale with that as a monogram.

I was given to believe that married men (this was before Family
Allowance) received “married man’s tax relief”.

I recall that the main purpose of the introduction of Family Allowance was to ensure that the money went straight into the hands of the Mother.

Also there was Mortgage Interest Relief until it was abolished in 2000 because Gordon Brown ( then Chancellor) had deemed it a “middle class perk”..

Interesting that one since I clearly recall Prime minister Tony Blair intoning that “we” are all middle class now!

OK Boomer, but you’re talking sh*t like most of your generation.

Oh dear Dickens what a horrible thing to have said to you. It doesn’t say much for the way that extremely rude younger person was brought up.

I’ve just found out that the fuel allowance was given to “second” homes, including static holiday caravans, if connected to man’s electricity!
Doesn’t seem right to me and a complete waste of money.

And another thing! We wanted so much to be kinder than our parents were to us that maybe we have not taught them enough respect! To say you're talking sh** like most of your generation, Dickens, is disgraceful!