AIBU to wonder why a pensioner struggling financially would not use housing equity?

Not yet, but never say never.

Did I call anyone a liar?

But it is not happening anyway, so....

Calling older people who have lived through very different times, liars, isn’t a good way to get a point across. Lived experience, whether you like it or not, is important when looking at history.

That would be for the government to decide.

Longitudinal research and statistics do trump anecdotes, yes.

Don't confuse them with facts and the truth. Google trumps lived experience.

I’m not a liar, I know what life has been like for us, and many other older people. I’ve lived it. I’m only slightly younger than your grandparents. There was no child benefit/family allowance for first children when DH and I had our first child. It was phased in after 1975. I’m an only, born just after WWII, my parents didn’t get any for me either. We get no means tested benefits in retirement, and jointly we manage fine on what could be considered a low income. I even meet friends for coffee!

Not every baby boomer had the job for life, bought their council house through Right to Buy, or had a final salary gold plated pension. We both worked, bought a house, and moved a bit up the housing ladder. I worked full time for many years, but DHs ill health meant we had to sell up and move back down, but that’s life! We also both worked, part time, after retirement, DH finally stopping at 67. Glad to say our 50something DCs are way better off than we ever were. The DGC (who are all teens) are growing up in much more affluent circumstances and will get help to get on the property ladder. The older ones (at uni) already work part time, not because they need to, but because they have been taught that a work ethic is important.

One thing that seems to be forgotten, as our generation, a big cohort of home owners, dies off, there will be inheritances coming down the line to so many families.

So what would be the cut off in terms of the value of someone's house before they could claim benefits?

Don't be silly. No one would consider a few hours delivering papers as a teenager comparable with an adult working to put food on the table. You're just labouring your point.

Does your mum receive pension credit? Because if yes then she is exempt from the bedroom tax anyway.

I’m not a liar, I know what life has been like for us, and many other older people. I’ve lived it. I’m only slightly younger than your grandparents. There was no child benefit/family allowance for first children when DH and I had our first child. It was phased in after 1975. I’m an only, born just after WWII, my parents didn’t get any for me either. We get no means tested benefits in retirement, and jointly we manage fine on what could be considered a low income. I even meet friends for coffee!

Not every baby boomer had the job for life, bought their council house through Right to Buy, or had a final salary gold plated pension. We both worked, bought a house, and moved a bit up the housing ladder. I worked full time for many years, but DHs ill health meant we had to sell up and move back down, but that’s life! We also both worked, part time, after retirement, DH finally stopping at 67. Glad to say our 50something DCs are way better off than we ever were. The DGC (who are all teens) are growing up in much more affluent circumstances and will get help to get on the property ladder. The older ones (at uni) already work part time, not because they need to, but because they have been taught that a work ethic is important.

One thing that seems to be forgotten, as our generation, a big cohort of home owners, dies off, there will be inheritances coming down the line to so many families.

Oh look, the personal insults begin. I can almost set my watch by them. Nothing useful to say? Nothing constructive to add to the discussion to move it along?

You said that you think homes should be classed as an asset for the purposes of means tested benefits... so it would not matter if someone on UC owns their grotty studio flat... if it is worth more than £16k, then they wont be able to claim a penny and therefore not be able to afford to live... so they would have to sell up and then claim UC in the form of rent.

DM lives alone in a 3 bed council house. She pays what a 3 bed costs... she is not paying extra on account of living there alone.

So you wouldn’t count a parent who has a Saturday job as proper work? How many hours does a person need to work in a week for it to count as proper work in your view?

Yes, I did indeed say they should be means tested. However, I did not say they should be means tested under the current system. There are thousands of ways of doing these things.

Nobody's ever answered your questions (demands) have they? How.many times.have you posted that? Guess what ? I'm not answering it either. If you can't grasp what I meant then that's your problem.

You still haven’t answered my question: what is the threshold by which you class work as “proper” or “real”? Is it based on age? Number of hours? Type of job?

You said that you think homes should be classed as an asset for the purposes of means tested benefits... so it would not matter if someone on UC owns their grotty studio flat... if it is worth more than £16k, then they wont be able to claim a penny and therefore not be able to afford to live... so they would have to sell up and then claim UC in the form of rent.

DM lives alone in a 3 bed council house. She pays what a 3 bed costs... she is not paying extra on account of living there alone.

It is infuriating that the elderly have the gall to complain about their situations that they have had an entire lifetime to prepare for, and they expect to be handed everything on a platter.
Yet if a young person dares mention things are tough it's "in my day" "stop buying posh coffee" "avocado toast" blah blah

My grandparents are in their 80s Grandad has had a stroke and they are absolutely slowing down now but their attitude towards the winter fuel payment was disgusting. We all knew for a fact they just spent it on Christmas presents. Lovely yes but not an essential.

They are not "wealthy" pensioners, they still manage holidays, cruises, meals out regularly.

Grandma was a part time dinner lady who stopped working before I was born (over 35 years ago) and grandad was a bus driver who retired at 60ish. They don't struggle at all but they still expect more more more and begrudge any help given to working age people.

Child benefit (and historically family allowance) has been available in some format since 1945 it was originally 5 shillings which was 12% of average working class weekly income. Child benefit today is less than 4% of the household income for a family in an equivalent financial situation.

The elderly who say they had no help "back in the day" are just liars.

@StealMySunshining I am genuinely sorry that at some point in your life you clearly feel someone stole your sunshine.

May I please ask why yiu were so skint as a post grad? When DS did his PhD, he was fully funded and had 6hpw of VL work. He swiftly converted his PhD to a 4* monograph and got a job on the back of it prior to publication.

I am truly sorry that you are so unhappy. Bitterness never goes well in life.

I’m not assuming anything. I’m stating facts.

In the same way that council tenants now have to pay for under occupancy then so can any pensioner who wants benefits beyond the basic state pension. So if the people you know are living in housing appropriate to their occupancy then they would be fine, wouldn’t they?

Whereas if a pensioned couple is living in a four bed and wants additional benefits, they won’t be entitled to them. They can downsize/move somewhere cheaper, use their equity to supplement their income and then when they are below the threshold they can apply for additional benefits. Why is that so controversial? It’s basically what happens to working people.

I'm talking about a Saturday job for a teenager. I thought that was obvious but clearly not to you.