Have baby boomers stolen the family silver

its clearly mismanaged ,as my old granny would have said too many chiefs and not enough indians,and the "chiefs" are happy to take big bonuses and hand out contracts for drugs etc to companies who put the prices up at will,Surely an organisation the size of the NHS should be able to negotiate prices for medication from big pharma but it appears to not be the case.I heard about a drug being used that cost the NHS £1 a box,then it was rebranded and the price went up to £7...same drug ,same pills even just a new box...surely somebody could see they were being ripped off

Did you not hear the hate speech during the referendum (and since) coming from the Remain side towards older people?

I've heard it from both sides. I tend to ignore it as people who can be so stupid and vicious really aren't worth listening to.

No Trisher I do not think the older generation are 'responsible' for the problems of the NHS. I have given my views on the NHS thread. The NHS is facing the conditions of a perfect storm, many things which could be handled alone, all coming together and soaking up all the resilience there was in the system leaving it cracking under pressure
1. A legacy of not training sufficient doctors and nurses , or in the case of nurses, training only just enough which doesnt allow for the fact that in this almost all female profession many quit or go part time.
2. The massive increase in costs of modern drugs and treatments - so a victim of its own success.
3. The very old (our parents) living longer and becoming very costly. My own healthy ninety year old mother is now receiving lucentis injections for AMD at £800 a shot (remember the landmark case against NICE by RNIB?).
4. The large numbers of the baby boom generation also beginning to receive medications and treatments once not available - think of the widespread use of statins, HRT diabetes treatment.
5. Mass uncontrolled immigration at an unmanageable rate causing enormous pressure especially on GPs, A&E and maternity services.
I believe the proven negative effects on communities is also a significant factor in alienation and a growth in mental health problems, as well as contributing to poverty and bringing health problems we didnt previously suffer on any scale (TB and HIV espcially)
6. Excessive drinking (IMO made far worse by Tony Blairs crazy removing of the old restrictions on licensing hours and general slackening of laws on alcohol sales such as allowing it to be sold on open shelves). This puts quite unnecessary strains on A& at the weekend.
7. Obesity leading to a massive increase in diabetes.

Re parties that hate:
Did you not hear the hate speech during the referendum (and since) coming from the Remain side towards older people? There was one especially vile one: Ring your Gran she's about to ruin your life!

LibDems have also talked of making pensioners 'share' in austerity.

So you do think the older generation are responsible for the mess this government is making of the NHS? Well at least some of us have always known that this would happen. I wasn't aware that any political party 'hated' us, in fact I thought they were all chasing us and the grey pound!

I think it's a deliberate ploy by supporters of this government to deflect blame for their appalling policies onto us hapless pensioners

LibDems and Labour have far more hatred of older people because a higher proportion voted Brexit and a lower proportion vote Labour.

Well said! I think it's a deliberate ploy by supporters of this government to deflect blame for their appalling policies onto us hapless pensioners.

Mind you, we were incredibly fortunate to have been born at the time of the most enlightened government of the past 100 years and more, a government which made it top priority to improve the quality of life for ordinary people by introducing a whole variety of social measures from the NHS to school milk.

Sadly, successive governments since then have been eating away bit by bit at these measures designed to secure the welfare of the whole population. They have sold off our public property to private companies, almost always at a loss. These sell-offs have not by any means always resulted in better value for us citizens.

We are not to blame for the behaviour of our governments (although those who voted them in may feel a little guilty). It is wrong-headed and entirely false to try to set the unfortunate younger generation against their grandparents because conditions have worsened, making life very hard for the hapless young people.

People often forget that the later baby boomers are still working.

The problem is that some focus in on this small group of very fortunate people and think every boomer is in a similar position

Exactly Marmardoit I was born in 1962. I have worked since I was 16 without a break. I have never seen the benefit of buying and selling property and I will be working until I am at least 67 before getting my basic state pension if it even exists then.

People often forget that the later baby boomers are still working. Many of today's 60 year olds would have left school at 15. Most went to work not to university. In fact very few girls went to university. Most of my generation will be working until they are 66 so still contributing.

Some were lucky enough to get a free university education and land jobs which meant they could retire very early.Too early really and looking back that should never have been possible. There are boomers who retired in their early 50s still very fit and able. These people will be drawing a pension for more years than they worked.....if they are lucky! That is unsustainable and nobody can say it isn't.

The problem is that some focus in on this small group of very fortunate people and think every boomer is in a similar position. But of course we are not. Many have gone through very tough times with unemployment, high inflation/high interest rates etc. I know that mortgages were very difficult to get in the early to mid 70s. The building society manager was all powerful and without his say so you were stuffed. In 1975 we wanted to move from a tiny 2 bed into a new build 3 bed detatched. The building society made it quite clear that was not on. Our next move was to a three bed semi and there was no way we would get a mortgage for anything more. Banks being able to provide mortgages did make things easier.

We did manage to buy the house but at a higher rate of interest. This meant that we really struggled when the rates did go through the roof. But we did manage when others lost everything. We had very little furniture and second/third hand TV, cooker and fridge. We also never ate out or had holidays other than camping . DH spent much of his spare time keeping an old banger of a car going so that he could get to work. We never really bothered about the material things. It would have bee nice to have had a better camera and money for films to take photos of the DC. Other than that we never really bothered about not having 'stuff'. There was a lot less 'stuff' anyway.

Yes, before long, it will be compulsory to euthanase everyone over the age of 60! Did anyone ever hear the radio series: "Paradise Lost in Cyberspace"?

That wasn't meant to be a "dig" at you Absent and I sincerely hope I have not offended you as that was not my intention.

What I was trying (badly) to say was in response to your paragraph;

Trying to drive a wedge through the generations is spiteful, stupid and unnecessary. Millennials who blame all their problems, whether financial, emotional or psychological, on their parents are pathetically irresponsible, just as any adult of any generation who does the same thing

I know I am not a "millennial" (far from it) but sometimes one finds oneself in a situation that despite best efforts its impossible to get out of. Family "silver" or inheritance can make a massive difference to someone's start in life.

I don't think I am explaining myself very well at all........

To be honest every generation has its pressures and its advantages.

No question we "baby boomers" overall had things "easier" ...student grants, mortgages saved before but more proportionate to salary as were house prices etc ....but we also within that context worked hard to save etc and have probably in our own ways worked hard all our lives etc etc! Society expectations and pressures were different too ...women working or at home, attitudes to women, expectations on men etc
But that doesnt mean this generation doesnt have their own challenges ... housebprices, student loans, priced out of markets in many areas for housing, often their home areas, job market has been changing drastically...
Comparing and pitting generation against generation is pointless! The problems are as they are ...all generations need to work together to sort them!

gillybob I wasn't suggesting that you or, indeed, any other Gransnetter was blaming anyone for their situation, whatever that situation may be. I was thinking more of some things I have read on Mumsnet describing situations which seem a bit difficult but not necessarily dire but which the poster blames entirely on parental greed, selfishness and so on.

Btw My family silver consists of a very few pieces that are much treasured because they belonged to family members rather than because of their quality or value, plus a singularly naff silver plated jam pot in the shape of an apple which I gave my parents as a Silver Wedding present. My excuse for this massive lapse of taste is that I was only 12 years old.

I don't blame anyone else other than me for my "situation" absent .

My irresponsibility was to be in "my situation" in a poor working class family .

And I don't know a single person who actually has any "family silver" BettyB

I wonder sometimes if I am from another planet?

absent, I, on the other hand, don't know even one person in the next generation who wants the silver. Ebay and I will sell it all to the highest bidder for holiday money.

Apologies to the arsey grans pendants for the incorrect spelling of "your'e"

Your'e description of "you and your kids" bears no resemblance whatsoever of "me and mine" specki4eyes

I have inherited literal and metaphorical family silver. It was left to me outright but with the tacit understanding that it should eventually be passed on down the line – and that, of course, is what I am doing and shall do. I know very well that many other baby boomers are doing the same thing.

Trying to drive a wedge through the generations is spiteful, stupid and unnecessary. Millennials who blame all their problems, whether financial, emotional or psychological, on their parents are pathetically irresponsible, just as any adult of any generation who does the same thing.

I remember leaving London to live up North in the 70s because I couldn't afford to buy and I also remember paying a Mortgage with a 15% interest rate.

Perhaps home hogging means that the over sixties are not dying quick enough. ?

This might be of interest. Admittedly teachers do not stay on the bottom rung for long. Compared to retail however, they are better off. Many shops paybstaff considerably less than £22K
www.nasuwt.org.uk/asset/CF08AAD8-AE67-42B1-9FAF58BD09C293A2.BAFD6A29-1AAF-4C03-A59D6CC75091B199/

True that the younger generations have a much steeper slope to climb than we did. So, yes...our generation was more fortunate. That still doesn't give anyone the right to begrudge what older generations may have that they don't.

In the last few decades, life got tougher. Soaring energy prices, climate change, widespread corruption, politicians, costly wars, higher taxes and jobs thrown into obsolescence by technological progress, the list is long and age has nothing to do with it.

Today, many of us regardless of age, face similar hardships because we are all in this together. In the US, anyone over 60 is pretty much unemployable, so the argument could be made that younger people are hoarding all the jobs. Truth is that job markets are changing and so are the skill sets that go with them. Young people can hone new skills with education and still be marketable. They can also work hard (as our generation did) and invest their money more wisely. Whining and putting the blame on the Baby Boomers for all their troubles (just because they can) isn't going to get them what they want!

And I was criticised on another thread when I said that starter homes (2 bedroomed) could be bought in a city not far from here for under £85, 000 - some flats less still.

And there are umpteen jobs, including teaching jobs, advertised in their local paper.

I missed that Ana

£24, 000 Which charity? I will avoid that one!

Well said, Eloethan

The main problem is house prices *in certain areas*; other commodities, food etc costs less now comparatively.
In the 1970s food cost 21% of income on average, now it is housing, water and fuel that costs 21% of income according to this report (from 2010 though).
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/1970-vs-2010-40-years-when-we-got-older-richer-and-fatter-2017240.html