To think the UK is in terminal decline

And it's not my belief that the age should keep rising it's what economists say. Something can be true without you having to agree with it.

Dont expect free childcare from grandparents then, They will still be working You cant have it both ways.

lol, have you seen the birth rates! People aren't having dc!

I looked after my own dc and had family support

my dds aren’t so fortunate but they need 2 incomes.

I think mass immigration has made housing more expensive for this generation in the first place

No doubt the 600 men living on Wethersfield air base will be sending in their CVs soon.

UK could save a fortune in immigration and benefit costs if the unemployed were required to work if they expected monetary payment.

this country is certainly going to pot if people rely on gb news for their info

Many ppl living in social housing and getting top up benefits are working

23% of people living in social housing are pensioners
Some of the former were bringing you your shit during the lockdowns.
Some of the latter will be providing free childcare so that parents can work.

It really astounds me that people are happy to leave their kids to be looked after by the very demographic that they obviously despise. They cant think much of their kids either if they are happy to have them looked after by someone they are full of resentment for

I think Gary is right. The problem is we have a system which concentrates more and more wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer people.

How on earth were we hoodwinked into blaming immigrants? All the immigrants I know are working and are very efficient and competent. At my workplace, they keep getting promoted. Also some sectors wouldn’t cope without immigrant workers. I’m thinking particularly of the NHS, care, agriculture, construction and manufacturing.

Dont expect free childcare from grandparents then, They will still be working You cant have it both ways.

I'm not sure I agree totally. I am optimistic enough to believe that broadly speaking, us humans are benevolent and kind, and there will always be an inclination to help those who genuinely need it. What will change, I am sure, is defining who actually needs benefits. It seems to me there is a raft of stuff that many see as a "mental health issue" which, traditionally, has been part of the ups and of life. IMO, being sad isn't a mental health issue, neither is loneliness, (some) anxiety .... to name s few. Albeit somewhat old fashioned, I can't help thinking there is a need to "step up to the plate" and get on with life, rather than expecting life to come to you.

Of course it's in decline. Massively.
Everything is going to pot literally. So many problems.

Adam Brooks claims (I don't know if his figures are reliable? But ...) the money will run out.
£7.5 billion for UC for migrants.
£3.5 billion for public spending services for migrants.
£6.6 billion for asylum seekers hotels and support.
How can we afford this for much longer he says?

No one wants to be accused of being racist or non welcoming to anyone who needs help. But his point is valid if the uk can't afford to fund it.

Yes, this. So what are Gen X and millennials going to do to change things? It's all in their hands now.

FWIW I think that as long as you've got migrants arriving here every day, illegally, the knock on effect is that everyone else thinks, why do we bother? Why do we bother to work and pay tax? There is no pride anymore. No personal responsibility. And I don't actually think that's any generation's fault, it is the result of globalisation, social media extolling what a soft touch the UK is, and an NHS that worked for a smaller population but doesn't work for a larger, mentally less resilient, population.

Also everything in life is cyclical. The Western world may be on its way down now but it will rise again. But probably not in the life time of most people alive today. AI may well save us.

Yes you are probably right but there is nothing stopping the underclass from doing this whereas professionals would tend to limit their families as they can’t afford not to.

Same with UK births. We need the "right" people to be having children - those who are more likely to have kids who will go on to be workers, in professions and trades. What we don't need is the "underclass" to keep breeding and bringing more "underclass" into future benefit claimants.

We don’t need the unskilled and the ones who need social housing and benefits to survive

it is like a vicious circle

We've already had compulsory workplace pension schemes for a few years, so we're well on the way to phasing out the state pension when our current young workforce start approaching retirement age.

Normal NIC is just another tax, so no, that wouldn't need to be refunded.

However, the voluntary class 3 contributions people pay for missing years, with it being voluntary, then morally, yes that would have to be refunded, but the figures involved are miniscule. But there's still doubt there too, as class 3 voluntary NIC contributions can also count towards jobseeker's allowance, so there's an argument that payees "could have" benefitted other than by state pension, and like any "insurance" scheme, you don't get refunds just because you didn't need to claim.

If state pension is amalgamated with private pension you won't need a fixed retirement age. It will be up to a person to take it when they have sufficient funds. I.e taking personal responsibility for their own financial situation.

The age will have to keep rising, the demographics don't work.

If state pension was stopped it would need to be a long phased out process. E.g 40 year old who have paid in for 20 years would get a pro rata state pension. Going forward, their current state pension contribution would go directly to their private pension. Youngsters starting out would have an increased personal pension contribution (gov and personal). This way they don't lose out.

And many people didn't pay enough particularly when you look at healthcare costs

But people are paying in now and won't necessarily get one, the age keeps moving out for one.

State pension is a contentious point as even though it has only recently been classed as a benefit people pay into it to qualify. People pay for missing years. If state pension was abolished people's contributions would need to be reimbursed.

Yes pension credit could be abolished.

I can see a time within 10 years when all benefits will be abolished.

Including the state pension?

@Spicyfruity Thank you for your response.