To think we shouldn’t have to contribute to soch if we don’t intend to use it?

Yup. American troll.

definitely american

yall?

You do acknowledge that the term "Boomer" exists - right? Even if you don't think it's a valid term?

A previous poster was talking about the word as if it meant anyone in their 60s / 70s at any point in the future. My post here was clarifying that it doesn't refer to that - it refers to people who were born in the post-war years and now happen to be that age. So you cannot be born in - for example - the 80s or 90s and become a Boomer when you hit your 60s.

But... I don't think it's at all ignorant to observe that generational attitudes are shaped by a shared economic and social environment. Of course, every individual has unique experiences, but there are objectively observable trends in behaviour, voting patterns and values across generations.

As I said further up the thread -

The second world war would be a good (albeit extreme) example. Did every individual have the same wartime experience? No. Was the generation still shaped overall by it, leading to attitudes that made the creation of the NHS possible? Yes.

Similarly - has every boomer enjoyed the benefits free access to higher education and a housing market that rewarded them with decades of appreciation - unearned wealth that they attribute to "sensible choices"? No. But enough of them have experienced this overall that it shapes the general attitudes and voting patterns of their generation - leading to a situation in which the NHS has been allowed to crumble.

Hope that clears it up.

So everyone who happens to be born within a certain time period is exactly the same, they all have the same expectations and attitudes do they?

You sound spectacularly ignorant - no doubt a trait of whichever generation you belong to!

I don't really get the "it's not fair" argument.

Isn't the whole welfare state & pension system there for anyone when/if they may need it?
Who knows what will happen to anyone over their lifetime and none of us knows if we will need things like the state pension at some point or not?
People get ill, fortunes change.

It's a safety net and that's the point surely?

You have no choice. You have to pay for people currently receiving the state pension whether you are going to get it or not.

It is quite possible that the state pension will be means-tested in future, so a lot of us will paying for other people's state pensions when we won't get a pension ourselves.

It's not fair, but that's how it is.

Apparently it was "self explanatory" though...

To save you the agony of ploughing through the OP's replies, we think it's short for "social" as in "social security payments" and might be pronounced "sosh" or "soash" and what she actually means is National Insurance contributions.

No one, regardless of age, knew what Soch was.

What's soch?

And presumably engaged in some kind of education at school.

What an utter twat the OP is. From the nonsensical "soch", which was quite frankly embarrassing because so few people got it, to their childish views of the state pension & welfare generally.

Guess someone was just bored today.

Ah! You're American!

@slozenger , your username should be mystic Meg, you know you’re not going to have a car accident, you know you’re never going to have a heart attack and you will self treat any unfortunate illnesses ( I hope that works for a long decline with dementia). All insurance schemes, including NI work on the principle of collective risk. I pay car insurance, house and contents insurance, I haven’t had to claim and I hope that continues. My payments help the insurance companies cover other people’s claims. I don’t use the swimming pool, schools or public libraries but I pay full council tax. Some of my friends have died before they reached retirement age, others will live to be 90+, they all paid NI. If you don’t want the benefits of a collective safety net perhaps live somewhere that leaves everyone to their own devices. I am btw a boomer by age range, so is Jeremy Corbin , so is Theresa May, so are Tony Blair and Gordon Brown Nigel Farage is just about in the cohort. How are they similar? I do think this is a windup. I read soch to rhyme with loch and hadn’t a clue what it was. Soash I may have guessed. Most benefits I would define as “ soch” ( if I used that term) are paid from general taxation .

Still TCP I reckon.

Another one who has no clue about how a functioning society works. Is mumsnet full of utterly selfish people? God help you if your luck changes.

How about cancer ? Presumably OP can do her own surgery and source/mix chemotherapy drugs herself. It’s either a huge wind up or batshit.

It’s funny until you realise they can probably vote 🫠

"ailment" - another much-misunderstood (by the OP) word.

I keep laughing every time I see it.

I was way down the posts and after googling "Soch" I was still none the wiser but then I said it out loud. Aaahh Slozenger you must be so young and naive to assume you won't need the Soch saftey net, may you continue in your self delusion. As a member of the soch aka pensioner after 51 years working life I feel entitled and delighted to get a pension I've never had kids either but never expected a refund.
Purely on semantics it was never called this except in slang. In the 1950/60s the slang in Scotland the "broo". My posh cousin had to apply to the broo for help and called it by what he thought was its proper name the "Brewery" cue laughter as its proper name was "Bureau" in the"Ministry of Labour"

How do you know you won't need it? You may get a disease or injury that stops you having a decent income to support yourself in old age, or if you have money you may be scammed out of it or have to spend it. Do you think society should leave you penniless on the streets in that case, or would you expect to get looked after? It's like saying I don't want to pay for car insurance because I won't have an accident. You are insuring yourself against being destitute in your old age.

OP unless you know your life won't extend beyond your pension date, how can you be sure you won't need state pension? There are plenty of people who have lost their private pensions to scammers and need to fall back on the state pension, others who live to old age and run out of private pension or who need to rely on state support in a care home.

And how do you square it being fair for those who pay NI and then die before they get their state pension.

It has to be the same for all of us, because we none of us know what the future holds.

Same here. I'm self employed and generally have my nails done on a Thursday afternoon to fit in with my diary commitments.

And god forbid they need the police - what happens too if someone for whatever reason loses their substantial assets and suddenly needs that state school, needs carers 4 times a day or care home? A cautionary tale is a friend of ours , in his early 60s , extremely fit, good looking , comfortably off, early retired, very nice house paid off ( he was quite a catch) had a huge stroke whilst abroad on holiday - was in hospital on EU for months, has had substantial NHS ( and some private) rehabilitative treatment for 18 months, will never now not need some continuous care and adaptations etc but probably not to the level that he will get it paid for - knowing him I’m pretty sure he would have ‘opted out’ of state pension/health etc if there were options yearsago .

I honestly think we’ve got a few Isabel oakshott mentality types on here and the post was designed that way - if you want to live somewhere where it’s very much down to pay as you go, then move elsewhere , and be prepared to be in the shit if life goes pear shaped. , if Farage was in and tried some of this he’s going to get absolutely slammed by some of the rather gullible voting that way who haven’t looked at the bigger picture, just the fact he doesn’t like foreigners ( unless they are loaded and funding him)