Every generation is different. We benefited from free tertiary education, but less than 5% of the school population went to university. Now nearly 40% do.
Buying a house would be much cheaper now, talking in terms of purchase price, if interest rates were 10% or more. We bought cheap but paid considerably more than younger people will, proportionately, if you take into account how much we ended up paying for our houses in high interest mortgage payments and many of us have used the equity in our houses to give our DC significant sums of money to get buy their first houses. help we didn't have.
Of course the older you are the more likely you are to be better off. Most of us start with little and gradually build up our assets so that they are at their maximum when they retire. Anyway, look at how so many people kick up about rich kids getting an easy run in life because they have money. The Beckham children, and the children of other wealthy people.
Getting Pension Credit does mean you are in poverty before you get it, but with it, it certainly isn't riches, but many people live comfortably but modestly on it. I used to work for a charity for older people as a benefit adviser and problem solver. Most of those on PC were in decent quality council housing and if you added onto their income with PC the housing benefit and council tax they also received, their effective income was comfortable.
I think our big advantage has been our pensions 1) PC, which did not exist for previous generations and may not be so generous under future governments 2) for those of us who receive them, occupational pensions, especially final salary schemes. But very few of us get a full OP. DH has about 25 years FSP, I only qualified for 11 years of FSP but for 10 years I paid the maximum amount of extra money I could to buy extra pension, and we are comfortably off as a result.
The triple lock has nothing to do with us. This was thrust upon us by the generation below us. It is only bribery, if we voted for the Conservatives as a result of it. Since I didn't and have expressed my disapproval of it on GN and elsewhere. If it was bribery, the bribe was not accepted.
I have also benefited from inheritance, as quite a lot of us have, but like many, much has already been handed on to DC and even more, DGC and we are doing all we can to make sure we leave a reasonable sum to our children, even after care fees. The proportion of us who will need care is not that large.
Most of my family have, so to speak died at an advance age with their boots still on or after brief illnesses. Hard on those who need the care, but the proportion of every age diagnosed with dementia is going down and fewer of us are crippled by disabling conditions like arthritis, now much less work is physically demanding and thanks to HSE that assures most safe and healthy working conditions - and that will continue.