To think that people living longer is making quality of life for everyone worse?

The Nazis also killed disabled people, homosexuals, gipsies and many other groups of people they regarded as being undesirable in some way.

Absolutely!

They have a lot to learn, as I did when I was 25.

I pretty sure @Pedallleur knows exactly that. I suspect that was her point. And I agree with her.

The Nazi "Final Solution" was to kill all the Jews - a way of controlling events by applying a hateful criterion. Using age is pretty similar - an arbitrary criterion for getting rid of human beings who you regard as in the way - in this case, old people who are in the way of @Futurascope 's DD being able to buy a house.

It's chilling.

The elderly are not the only 'drain on resources'. There are a lot of people in society that are economically inactive and need looking after, as well as the elderly. It's a major problem for a modern developed society.

This. One hundred percent. Well said.

You do know that Final Solution is Nazi language don’t you ?

This happens all the time and one of the things I objected to when I was nursing. Sometimes they'd return from hospital with a DNAR, but often they didn't and the cycle would continue.

Indeed.

That about covers it!

They’re not a skint cohort. Some might be - but less than other groups by a long way.

I really need to get on with work and also don't want to take over this thread, so just one more thing.

Within any group (age, or whatever other unhelpful and unfair generalisation) the ones with less do matter, and need and deserve empathy and support.

Their needs shouldn't be ignored just because others in their designated group (age or whatever) might not have those needs.

One of the reasons why pensioner poverty is a growing problem is precisely because of the lumping together of people by age, who are in varied social and financial circumstances. Limited help or concern for them, because 'lots are ok'. So the ones who aren't ok are ignored and forgotten.

perhaps we just need a 'Final Solution'? There is a template for it but for those who want to try it I'll suggest you and all your family can be the test subjects

I have two elderly relatives (89+) who aren't in the best of health, but aren't dying either. Their spouses have passed, their friends have all passed, and they spend every day in their care homes. They have both signed DNRs and have stated explicitly that they are ready to go.

As much as I love them and want them to be around forever, I wish there was a way to help them pass peacefully on their own terms, without waiting to die sick, in pain, or without their precious memories.

I understand it's 80%, not 90%, and owning a home doesn't mean no poverty. Many need to sell to downsize and move away to free up cash See below

People aged 60-64 now have the highest relative poverty rate at 25%.

The report also details that the average annual income of the poorest 20% of retired individuals is below the minimum amount needed to live on.

This means that the country’s poorest retirees, including those solely reliant on the state pension, have an annual income estimated to leave just £41 for a weekly food shop and insufficient funds to run their own car or service their boiler.

The other thing is those who move away are mainly younger pensioners and people nearing retirement. There's growing poverty and more private renters in these groups. See below.

More than 4.6 million people 50 and older still having to pay off mortgages. No guarantee they'll eventually own outright. Life events like divorce, job loss, of illness, then can't afford mortgage payments...at an age when soon the only income will be a pension

The highest number of older people in rented accommodation ever (almost 2 million aged 50 and older).

More than one in three (37%) pensioners who rent homes privately are in poverty.

Best & truest post in this horrible thread. Thanks @MrTiddlesTheCat for giving the younger posters some sense of the ageing process.

I can remember about 30 years ago, when I was in my early 30s, my grandmother (83) telling me that inside she was still 33 - it was when her beloved husband was still alive (he was shot down in WW2) and they lived a charmed life with great love. She didn't feel 83.

I'm coming to learn to understand what she meant - in my mid-60s I still feel I have much to accomplish. The other day I climbed a rope in the gym to the top. And there's still more to do.

We dismiss people because of how they look on the outside at our peril and to our detriment.

It's not. People have to throw themselves off the cliff when they're 75 so they don't become a burden on Society. The sacrifice is at the end of the film.

No they don’t - they threw the people off a cliff as a human sacrifice which happened once every 100 years (or something)

90% of pensioners own their home outright with no mortgage. They’re not a skint cohort. Some might be - but less than other groups by a long way.

I was on another thread where some posters wanted affordable housing in big cities like London to be only for keyworkers and people who 'need to be there'.

I imagine older people from those cities feel unwelcome and pressured to move away. Especially as (I think?) there's even an official scheme in London to 'relocate' retired social housing tenants to rural areas.

My previous posts on this thread point out many pensioners are in poverty, and many don't own their home.

A significant minority of older people are private renting especially in big cities. Moving away could be their only chance to buy, or to simply continue affording the rent when on a state pension.

Most older people who move away from cities don't buy big houses. Lots, probably most, downsize. They sometimes opt for somewhere less urban, because the more affordable housing in urban areas tends to be tiny flats not designed for older people especially those with mobility needs.

There's been funding cuts to public services across the country. Sometimes support in cities is worse than rural areas, as support schemes there often focus on the young.

Also in cities, many older people's kids have had to move away (due to unaffordable housing). So the issue you mention, of lack of social contact, care including help getting to doctors, and isolation is a problem in big cities too.

Sometimes it's worse, especially as there's less informal community support in large cities because of more transient populations.

Has anyone seem Midsommar? When people reach 75 they have to throw themselves off a cliff.

Non rural areas have as much social care pressure as rural areas, so it’s not people flocking to large rural homes.

The elderly culture in this country really doesn’t help either. People seem to want to retire in large rural homes - their right of course, but it means they increasingly struggle with their house/stairs/garden and live ages away from doctors, shops and useful services. They end up sort of retreating into their homes, living in a couple of rooms watching TV all day. Then the lack of social contact and movement means their health declines.

?