Are pensioners perceived differently now?

Pensioners do not form a homogeneous group!
I for one am happy that I took advantage of the educational opportunities offered in the 60's, worked hard and paid the 15% rates on a mortgage in the 70's and paid substantial amounts of my salary towards my pension. So yes I am reasonably comfortable now. I take nothing for granted.
The money I inherited from my parents has all been passed on to my ACs. As far as I could manage it my pension funds and savings were ethically invested. I never took advantage of the right to buy scheme and I voted Remain in 2016.
Please do not include me in the cohort of the stereotypical pensioners.
My conscience is clear.

I don't think any of this is really to do with what personal benefits individuals have or have not had over the years but how we moved from a society that believed in the greater good and support for the weakest, to a society where the aquisition of wealth and the cult of the individual became the norm. It happened slowly but certainly and although we may not have voted for it we certainly haven't been strong enough in opposing it.(and I include myself in this). As far as homelessness and housing goes it isn't that they are still with us (and may always be to some extent) but that we seem to have lost the will and intent to improve things. We seem happy to accept that private landlords can raise rents when they like and price a family out of their home and that local councils no longer have responsibility to house anyone. At the same time we allow people on zero hours contracts to be called employed although they may only be paid for a few hours work and we saddle young graduates with student loans they may never repay. It's not a legacy we should be proud of.

It happened slowly but certainly and although we may not have voted for it we certainly haven't been strong enough in opposing it.
Exactly this!
When my kids and grandkids ask why we didn't do more to help the environment or halt inequality, I won't have an answer for them!

As an individual I could make excuses: I was busy making ends meet, I made some ethical choices yada yada yada....
.... its not enough

But, unlike the Thatcher statement, society is made up of individuals who, in a civilised society, do have responsibility to other members of that society.
I have tried to live up to that responsibility as a parent, as an individual and as an enfranchised citizen.
That's why I object to bring lumped in with the many pensioners who really are smug, selfish and verging on gloating.

My grandparents generation stood up and were counted for what they believed to be right (or wrong)

My parents and mine, not so much.

People talk about issues but don't act or make personal sacrifices to redress wrongs or effect change.

people talk about issues but don’t act or make personal sacrifices

I know lots of people, young old and those in between, who talk about, take action and make sacrifices for the good of others and to redress wrongs.

There is much compassion in the world that I see everday. Some small actions some big but all caring for others. Please don’t dismiss all this goodness.

Depends not sure other than being forced to fight in a war what my grandparents did so not sure they had an active choice ..CND was my parents generation, 1968 and on to Greenham I was a student/young person protester and have continued as an active campaigner (letters/boycott/protest etc) all my life. My DDs and some of their contemporaries are also 'politically' active. Not the same as fighting a war I appreciate that..but we do not want that do we?

PECS that’s so true, we as individuals can only do so much.

We just should not be silent! Silence gives those with power room to do as they please.

Individual...small group....crowd...demonstration....movement...political party.
Organisations like Avaaz and 38° are making quite a noise and achieving change.
Don't say that as an individual you don't count and can't achieve change.

PECS Mon 07-Jan-19 17:58:33. You and I have much in common on this subject but differ in some ways. I appreciate that you are polite about our differences and don't need to be unpleasant about them. Not everyone is as reasonable.

I firmly believe that young people today have a lot of advantages we didn't have and that we had advantages they don't have. I don't see a need to 'take sides' I think we can all point out different aspects. However I will not accept that young people don't have opportunities. We have the lowest unemployment figures for many years, councils do have a legal duty to house those made homeless through no fault of their own. I see lots of news items about those trying to help street sleepers. Yes, I know it doesn't always work but lots of people are trying. Today there is much more welfare than when I was young, companies pay people when they are ill, holiday entitlement is much greater and of course maternity benefits exist now. So it is not all bad. Oh and that old chestnut about the gig economy, well it just depends which bit you read, not just the headlines. I have no personal experience but I read that 75% of those in this type of work choose to do so because it suits their lifestyle, e.g. students. Of course there are some who don't like it but the assumption that they are all being taken advantage of is wrong. We need to look at all this in a balanced way.

I'm glad that young people don't have to live in a bedsit like mine these days. I'm glad that I was able to prepare my children for adult life in a way no one prepared me.

I glad we have human rights laws, employment protection, maternity pay, help with paying for nurseries.

I'm sad for those who are in financial difficulty

I'm sad for those who have no emotional support because I know what that was like.

I'm sad for the homeless and wish there was a solution despite so many trying to find one.

I'm sad for the alcoholics and drug users, I don't understand their lives because I have never been offered drugs and don't like the feeling I get if I drink too much. I have compassion for them but don't understand.