Stop blaming Pensioners

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.

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!

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Well said ShillyShally.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Primrose53

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 wonder if that is why DS is a genius? He constantly had his 2½ year old sister shaking rattles, singing to him and keeping him entertained. 😁 He did sleep a lot, perhaps he was exhausted from all the stimulation.

Something that frequently occurs to me.
Many younger people will inherit those large expensive houses which they complain about some of us living in.
Both my parents lived through two world wars and a depression. One born 1900 and one 1904.

They both came from working class families.
My father died in 1949 when I was eleven.
No welfare state, my mother struggled most of her life.
My H and I never inherited a penny from either family.
We worked hard and hopefully, eventually, my two C will inherit a nice house.
I see this all the time among my younger than me friends.
Parents die and they move onto bigger and better houses.
The ones complaining should remember that many of them will reap the benefits of “our luck”

Many working class men were reluctant to allow their wives to work during the 1950s/1960s era. They felt that it reflected badly on their position as head of the household and provider. My father certainly had that attitude. It was only with the greatest reluctance that he "permitted" my mother to get a part time job once I was 14. I was then deemed old enough to look after my sister from the time she finished school until our mother got home from wotk. Many families struggled on one income for similar reasons. None of this being subbed out by the taxpayer because the job paid s**t money or you only wanted to work 18 hours a week.

I have to say I don't understand why someone should work 18 hours and get their money made up with credits. It seems a slap in the face to those who put in the hours and do a full time job, but I do think the system encourages people to do it.

I worked in London during the Blitz and dodged machine bullets in The Battle of Britain. Served in the WAAF. Husband was in DDay landings where wounded and once recovered was posted to Palestine when barely recovered. When demobbed could only find a small attic room from which evicted when baby was born. No NHS so had to pay hospital bill. Had to leave baby with mother in law until manage to get a smalltop floor flat. No hot water no detergent..two lots of nappies to wash by hand.no bathroom.Everything was rationed, food, clothing until 1954. We lived there for ten years until managed to save deposit for house and only managed to get mortgage because husband knew his wartime officer was an estate agent.
Nowin my old age, widowed, husband never really recovered from wartime wounds, I think I need a little help and comfort.

People dont want to work longer hours or do overtime because it will "mess up their universal credit". At the same time the unfairness of the tax system leads to highly qualified people like doctors and consultants dropping down to part time work. Or the over 50s (whom the government wants to encourage back to work) being unwilling to get hammered by the tax man.

In other words the system encourages people to duck and dive rather than be a 40% tax payer. There are people who make a good living teaching people how to manipulate the system.

There was none of that when we were working. If your full time job didnt pay enough for your needs you took a second job evenings and/or weekends. Been there, done it, got the t-shirt. None of these tax credits or other hand outs.

I don’t understand how the over 50s are hammered by the taxman - they are taxed at the same rate as everyone else.

I agree with the rest of your post though - I know a hospital doctor who has cut her hours for tax reasons and a friend’s daughter who won’t work extra hours because she would lose universal credit. Both have young children - I confess that I don’t know whether that’s relevant to their situation (other than that their calculations take childcare costs into account).

It seems madness to me that people working full time are no better off than part-timers doing the same job. No wonder there is resentment.