AIBU to think the baby Boomers should lay of the sauce?

[MiniTheMinx]

The Alcohol Concern report found the cost of hospital admissions linked to heavy drinking 55 to 74-year-olds in 2010-11 was more than £825m, that is a staggering 10 times the cost of treating younger people.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19913431

Not only have the baby boomers seen in their life time greater social mobility, better pension provision, an NHS that wasn't at all times rationed, an education system that offered them Grammar schools, unions that fought for their workers rights and lived through the 60's (wish I had been there) they now claim non-means tested benefits, take up 2/5ths of the welfare bill and cripple the NHS with their partying alcohol swigging lifestyle whilst 1-3 children in the UK live in poverty.

[larks35]

YABU, they should be laying on the sauce, for us poor "children of the revolution" to drown our self-pitying sorrows with .

BTW child poverty is actually lower, I think it is now 17%, still appalling but on the decrease. At least it was before these latest cuts. I blame the increasingly wealthy 1% who somehow manage to increase their vast wealth at the cost of the rest of us.

OP, rather than blaming the generation that benefitted from a true welfare state, why not question the loss of that and fight for it yourself?

[expatinscotland]

Well, hopefully they'll die off and not live as long as the current generation of pensioners are.

[AgentZigzag]

Not a wink or a grin after that expat? Or did you mean it seriously?

The 'baby boomers' can't help the time they lived in, or are you expecting them to sit in knitting instead of going out and having a good time?

It sounds like you're suggesting they know they're taking money away from poverty stricken children and go out partying anyway.

[larks35]

Also, your post is a little misleading the cost was 10x more than the cost of treating alcohol-related problems in 16-25yo. Considering that the more complex problems and therefore more expensive treatment comes from long-term alcohol use/abuse, it isn't surprising that it is the baby-boomers generation that is costing more now. In another 10 or so years it'll be the "love-children" of the 60s and 70s and then the "Thatcher children" of the 80s. It isn't about the generation, it's about when the affects of long-term alcohol use/abuse hits. At least, that is my opinion.

[MiniTheMinx]

Yes I just wish they would share it about ......the sauce that is and the welfare.

I just feel that pensioners are largely being left alone by the coalition when cuts are being made that are effecting women and children, they are sopping up NHS funds and turning their radiators up to tropical temperatures. Part of me thinks I may be a tad ungenerous but the baby boomers have had it far easier than future generations ever will. To top it all the party isn't over and they seem to be the only generation that can actually now afford a drink.

[MiniTheMinx]

larks35 yes and it isn't over yet, they will likely find that they have pickled their brains and half of them will develop dementia.

[WhenShallWeThreeMeetAgain]

Mini - YOU try living on £150 a week and paying Council Tax, Mortgage, heating, food etc. Bet you wouldn't last a week! I'm a BB and I've NEVER had it easy, even when I was working.

[LadySybildeChocolate]

I'd like to see winter fuel allowance and bus passes means tested. It's not easy being a 'baby boomer'. What do they have to look forward to? I'm not surprised the levels of alcohol abuse are so high.

[EdithWeston]

The confounded in this is that alcohol damage can be a reflection of drinking that has been going on for years. It's always been more common in older age groups, simply because of the passage of time.

Both old and young should heed sensible drinking guidelines. And it's perhaps more important for the young, as averting damage before it starts will have the greater impact.

[expatinscotland]

'Not a wink or a grin after that expat? Or did you mean it seriously?

The 'baby boomers' can't help the time they lived in, or are you expecting them to sit in knitting instead of going out and having a good time?

It sounds like you're suggesting they know they're taking money away from poverty stricken children and go out partying anyway.'

Chillax! It's a FRIDAY night, Zigzag! Yeah, let's just line 'em all up and fire off at them, it's quicker and will save the NHS money.

I couldn't care less what legal activities people do in their free time, drinking, planting pampas grass or knitting.

[MiniTheMinx]

Its not just their drinking habits either apparently STDs are on the rise in this age group. They are a ticking time bomb in terms of welfare costs.

[larks35]

So you blame pensioners for your lack of funds? What about the dodgy bankers who put us in this mess? The dodgy politicians who have cut taxes for the rich on the same day they cut benefits to the poor?

I think you have found yourself a nice, safe, easy target for your gripe about what you don't have. Look further afield. FFS pensioners will die this winter because they won't be able to afford to heat themselves. Get a grip.

[MiniTheMinx]

No I am just concerned about the fact that welfare is being cut and not one penny is being cut to a certain group of over 65's. If we are indeed all in this together why are the coalition laying off the bids and piling the shit onto families? Votes maybe?

Before anyone asks , the cuts thus far thankfully do not effect me. I will struggle to find care for my baby boomer father, another party reveller in his 80's who may I think have pickled his brain.

[AgentZigzag]

I must admit, I did think of some kind of Logans Run set up for the over 60s when I read the OP expat

But the froth came over me.

[AgentZigzag]

'But the froth came over me. '

I can't believe I just wrote that!

But like you say, it's Friday

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

They are old! You can't start having a go at them now, bless em!

[MiniTheMinx]

I wonder how the Thatcher children of the eighties will turn out? I agree with Chocolate, I think winter fuel and bus passes should be means tested.

[MiniTheMinx]

Hi Freddo, but someone has to, they are off limits for Dave and Co' party treasurer warned them off!

[MiniTheMinx]

A couple of years of what? ....partying....drinking......free NHS care?

[alcofrolic]

[expatinscotland]

My dad is in his late 70s and smokes, he hasn't drunk in decades, though, but you know, to him, there's no point in quitting so he can live longer. I can see his point of view, tbh. He's been smoking since the early 1950s and it hasn't killed him off by now, he'll probably die of something else.

[MiniTheMinx]

Mine has tried everything from boxing to drinking to....well never mind about that. He's in his 80's and just beginning to slow down. He does have quite a lot to say for himself though. When Osborne capped tax on pensions he went up the wall. I'd never seen some one so old get so agitated. There is no talking to him......"I paid tax lalalalalalala" It is almost as though these oldies are determined to get out what they paid in!

Ageing societies though with falling birthrates are a recipe for disaster as is failing meet the welfare needs of millions of children whilst courting the favour of those who lets face it only turn out to vote because they might find someone to talk about the war with.