Not my fault I was born in the early 50's .

I'm in the same position as maggiemaybe but my DH has a final salary pension and we have paid off our mortgage. So to all intents and purposes we are well off and we are certainly grateful for what we've got. However, we don't regard it as ours alone and still support our DD (a single mum) and DGD as much as we possibly can and would (and have done) support our DS if necessary. My generation does seem to have it all to some others (we were even blamed by SNP supporters for their failure to gain independence!) but we feel lucky to have the income we still have and try to support others who have less.

I also wonder if it is the huge disparity of incomes that makes the young look at their parents as being wealthy.
Average income is £28k, but the mean average is not the best to use, as the mega high earnings of not just some invisible people, but 'celebrities, sports figure, media' etc etc, affect the figure disproportionally, in figures and paraded lifestyles. Too big a brush stroke, the young feel 'poor', but are just going through what all young marrieds with children go through in every generation

There seem to be an awful lot of people on these dreadful zero hours contracts. How they manage I do not know as they never know how much they will earn from one week to the next. And what will happen in the future when so many jobs will be automated and disappear?

Just hit 60 .. got a Senior Railcard and free prescriptions, hardly a Jackpot. Another 7 years till I get my elusive pension.

Hi all ,I actually watched the government debate this week on us 1950 born ladies,pleased with the support shown ,and of the miss justice as they called it ,I'm April 1954 and now really rather cross after working since 15 yrs ,missing out. On a pension that was expected I feel we deserve our money we payed into.my prediction is 65and 7 months,being a single lady I need it they were talking about compensation ,I wish ,.my son has a more expensive home than I ,and earns more money than I ever have ,I just hope I keep good health ,
Thanks for letting me rant rant !!

You know, I'm pretty sick of my generation being told just how good we have always had it. Did we? Really? The snowflake generation attend university as a "right". They stay in full time education until they are practically middle aged and then complain about the lack of housing, before they've even had a job (seems Saturday jobs are off the table too these days, as is paying your mother rent when you DO actually work!) But their mothers can claim child allowance up to the age of 20! I grew up in a council house in Tottenham - just up the road from where PC Blakelock was murdered in the '80's riots. I did not know a single person who went to university, not one, although we had six full grammar schools and three central schools. I failed my 11+ but passed the 13+ Which took me to Tottenham Technical College, and left at 15 as a fully qualified secretary and went to work in Lloyds Bank Head Office. We were both 20 when we married and even though I worked in a bank could not get a mortgage. This was a) because you had to be 25, b) because we didn't have 10% to put down c) because my money could not count towards any mortgage as I might have children and d) at 20 my husband was not old enough to get credit, so we rented a flat until our first child came along at 24, when we upgraded to a house. I couldn't afford a child minder but discovered if you watch adverts long enough you see the same ones keep coming back, something's not great with those jobs. They were the ones I targeted and found they were so keen to get a secretary they would allow you to take the baby to work where she lay in her pram while I got on with the job. She was an adult when at 45 we got our first mortgage to buy our rented home. Because she lived with us she had to sign a solicitors declaration to the effect that she was OK with us buying our house and appreciated that if we didn't keep up payments she might lose HER home! My eldest daughter has her Masters degree and has a career as a solo violinist, the second works as the Global IT Manager for a well known automotive company. I left the rubbish job and went back to the Bank in 1982, then retired in 2005 when I took a job as a Customer Services Liaison Manager, I have just retired again. Things have NOT been handed to us on a plate - we've both had to work damn hard for everything we have achieved (which is not amazing, probably pretty average), paid income tax for 57 years and have received no state benefits other than child allowance (to age 16 for both) and now free prescriptions, old age pension and a bus pass. The one thing I do have is a final salary pension from the Bank, which is not available now. I guess that's the bit I had "easy". The world does not owe me a living, I never believed it did, but the university leavers of today seem to think the UNIVERSE owes them one. Rant over, much too long, sorry?

Born in 1952, I had to wait till I was 62 and 3/4 to get my state pension of £600 a month. Others are worse off, I know, but the government has gained about £20,000 from me. I still have to work to supplement my income even though I live mortgage free- my direct debits are about £500 monthly even though I consider I live frugally! I never use my bus pass so I'm not taking anyone's seat.
We worked hard to pay off the mortgage, didn't run two cars or buy things we couldn't afford or get into extra debt. I hope to leave my two daughters a bit of an inheritance. My parents were factory workers and lived in council property so I was left nothing. The government has allowed housing costs to escalate so much and there are too many people chasing too little affordable housing. That is not the baby boomers' fault other than that they are still alive!

I am another born in 1955, I was first told I would have to wait until I was 65 for my Pension & then suddenly 66, I now have 4 years to wait. I have a small Civil Service Pension as I took Early Retirement at 50 to care for my DH. He Retired at 65 in poor health. At 57 I was Widowed, I am unable to work due to poor health so am on benefits. My ESA (Employment & Support Allowance) goes down every time I get a Pension increase. This also happens to those of you who are eligible for Pension Credit & have a Company/Private Pension, so each year your income will not increase unless the State Pension does. I only get Free Prescriptions but I've been exempt for 14 years due to health conditions in any case. No bus pass, no heating allowance although I do get Council Tax & Housing Benefit.

All my life I have had mostly second hand furniture, clothing on a budget, no fancy gadgets, yes I have a laptop but I do need that for Shopping, Banking etc as I live in a small town & it helps to save on petrol. I do need my car as I can't walk far & find using buses difficult & expensive, taxis are out of the question due to cost.

I have only had one foreign holiday, a week on a cheap deal in Portugal. My car is 5 years old, DH & I bought a brand new car when Government offered the £2000 scappage scheme & a loan. Before that we always had very old cars.

There are higher expectations of the type of lifestyle the younger generation want but we couldn't have either afforded more than the basics or accessed them. Technology is so readily available & has such a short life span that they are constantly upgrading it.

I blame the press for setting the generations against one another, it was a different world that we grew up in.

Think this is just affluent southerners. Baby Boomers from Rotherham (and many other Northern towns) don't recognise this apparent fabulousness of being a baby boomer. Most of my contempories didn't go to university so had absolutely no benefit of the fees being paid. We didn't have Gap Years, driving lessons or a car as were saving hard for mortgage deposit. I first flew in a plane aged 40. Owned my own car at 39. Worked from aged 16. Paid into pensions, put down house deposit, saved and holidayed in rented cottages most of the time we had children. So I'm certainly not feeling guilty at now having some time to myself and yes....to travel.

Think this is just affluent southerners. Baby Boomers from Rotherham (and many other Northern towns) don't recognise this apparent fabulousness of being a baby boomer. Most of my contempories didn't go to university so had absolutely no benefit of the fees being paid. We didn't have Gap Years, driving lessons or a car as were saving hard for mortgage deposit. I first flew in a plane aged 40. Owned my own car at 39. Worked from aged 16. Paid into pensions, put down house deposit, saved and holidayed in rented cottages most of the time we had children. So I'm certainly not feeling guilty at now having some time to myself and yes....to travel.

I retired in 2012 aged 73. Worked all my life and just about manage on pension and a couple of small occupational pensions. Bought my parents house under right to buy so now mortgage free. It was difficult to get a mortgage as a single female.

We didn't go out to restaurants. Perhaps Saturday to the Pub for a drink and it was a drink. Young people now expect so much. Female staff were put on temporary contracts as soon as they married.

I also remember those who did get married cock a hoop because they could opt out of paying National Insurance and they are the ones who complain when they don't get full pension.

If the young could live as we did in 40's 50's and 60's they wouldn't be so sure we have it good.

Why should our children imagine they are paying for our supposedly lavish lifestyles? I paid for my pension and medical care etc. through tax and NI when I was working. I'm pretty sure the basic rate of tax is lower now than when I was in my first jobs too.

"Bribes". Ladies, may I remind you that it is our money you are talking about. The government does not own any of our cash. We invested in our pensions private and state and worked very, very hard for them. Our state pension is about the lowest in the developed world and we grafted for it only to see it receding before our eyes. Mine, when I started work, was going to be paid at age 60, then 63, then 65 and now I have to wait another six years to collect it at 66. By my reckoning that is about £42,000 I have lost.

Things haven't changed that much for the young. It is their habits and expectations that have changed. My DD and her BF both work, saved a deposit and took out a mortgage to buy a house as both sets of parents did in their time. My DS, who works, could afford to buy if he met a partner and bought with them.

Actually, my DD managed to buy in the south. Her father and I had to move 300 miles north to buy our first property and we paid 14 per cent interest on the mortgage while hers is just 2 per cent.

Saying this from behind the sofa so as to be able to duck quickly. There's a 38 Degrees petition about overdraft charges (they think they're too high). We were petrified of going overdrawn, and once we did by accident and were summoned to see the bank manager. He was very nice to us and said that as DH had good employment prospects (I wasn't out at work as DD was a baby) we could have a small arranged overdraft if we needed it, but we made quite sure we didn't! The reason that I'm behind the sofa is that I think it's now too easy to get an overdraft - in fact it seems to be seen as a right - and people don't feel that they have to save for what they want as we all did when we were young. I know that some people just don't get paid enough to make ends meet, and I'm not talking about them, just about those who expect to have what they want before they can afford it.

When the DC were small and the mortgage rates were so high we sometimes had to tie the ends together with a piece of elastic.
It was really awkward because DH got paid every 4 weeks, not every month, so at the end of one four weeks (usually around Christmas thank goodness) we caught up.
I did have a part-time evening job - he came in, I dashed out but no family near and child care was not cost effective.

I couldn't survive without an overdraft wheniwasyourage

It was the 'piece of elastic' gillybob

Oh I did wonder Jalima

My "elastic" is getting longer and longer and I worry that it could snap anyday. Oh dear .

'Making ends meet' as WhenIwasyourage mentioned!

I could never see the advantage of an overdraft (though I did have one whilst working). Once you are spent up to your overdraft limit you are back to square one as you are paying that off every month before you can spend your salary, then going into overdraft again.