Missed off the quote @Differentforgirls but this is regarding the envy comments
Probably not in the way you see it. Am I envious of all of the trips that my family take constantly, yes, do I begrudge them it, absolutely not. So yes, benign envy I suppose…but not of pensioners in general though, just my family.
They all laugh at me because over the last couple of years I’ve taken to living the retirement lifestyle as they/we call it. I see them having all of their trips and I LOVE that for them, so I have been throwing caution to the wind and taking more trips. I have 6 overseas holidays booked in the next 12 months, I choose to spend on these things because I can and because I sacrifice in other ways (one car and low housing costs for example).
What you are probably picking up from my posts it that i feel a sense of injustice on behalf of people who are struggling. Families living pay check to pay check just to put food on the table, missing time with children and not getting to do basic activities because all they can afford to do is work. People who will do this their entire lives, beyond pension age, and will never get to really slow down and relax. People who have to listen to pensioners who complain about being so poor when actually the average income for pensioner households is just 500 less than working age households which typically have more people in them, and much higher costs including rent and mortgage. Mortgages are 1000+ for homes big enough to house a couple of children, childcare when you have 2/3 children is almost as much as the income of the person working.
You probably hear the frustration because I hear pensioners telling people about how they just ‘went without’ in their day…yeah but only one of you worked when you had kids, if someone is working a full time job and managing kids why should they go without. Basic expenditure is DIFFERENT now, it’s not that people expect more now, it is just that there different needs that weren’t there when pensioners were young. But all of the pensioners I know have really great and relaxed lives, they don’t have money worries, they don’t panic over how to feed and clothe their kids, or what happens if a car breaks down and they can’t get to work.
So no, probably not envy in the sense that you think. Just in the sense that I wished my generation was going to have the same future outcomes. I hope this makes it clearer for you.