If we all in this together what cuts have oaps faced?

[3asAbird]

As my title says im struggling to see any.

Winter fuel allowance -stays universil-too expensive to means tesrt
same with free bus passes.

part of their social care is paid so they can leave wealth to their families

They excempt from bedroom subsidy so they allowed to under occupy and biggest group.

Pensions I think went up

This new married couples allowance maybe another additional benefit to them if they large proportion of this group.

Housing-they brought at right time probably paid off mortgage and have lots equity.

They moan about interest rates but they fortunate enough to be able to save.

If social-how many homeless pensioners are there? Are they always band a?

Maybe im being harsh and some pensioners have it hard.

But locally they have several holidays a year, holiday homes, brand new cars.

wondering how exactly we all in this together ad should there be mass turnouts under 60 to vote at next general election.

I'm also very sceptical about the claim that two thirds of pensioners are living in poverty: I suspect that this may be because "poverty" is defined as two thirds of the median income (assets disregarded), and if you use that yardstick yes pensioners' income may be at those levels but their assets as a group are much greater (remember that over-55s own the vast majority of assets in the UK). E.g. what about housing, since pensioners tend to have low or no housing costs compared to working-age people whoosh pay for (currently extremely expensive) housing out of their income as well.

I was always taught by my parents, using the norms they had grown up with, that rent or mortgage should take up a third or less of one's net income, based on one person working out of a couple. I don't know anyone my age (mid-30s) who isn't paying over 50 percent of their household net income in rent or mortgage, based on two people working, not one.

And if you bought your first house at age 22, you were very well off!

*who not whoosh!

It will stop soon - our generation of overworked over-indulgers will pop off early and reset the finances...

since we 40/50 year olds are all obese alcoholics, working too many hours, in too much stress, caring for kids and parents and running out of oomph.........

Well off older people will always be the most asset rich. Because if you are part of a well off family, you start to inherit as you get older. Those in the thread who are from well off families will find this themselves.

My parents bought their first flat aged 22 in 1974 on my day's training salary. It was less than 1.5 times his income! This was the norm amongst their friends. When he qualified they traded up to a 2-bed semi which cost just over two times his income.

House prices in every area of the SE city I live in are between 10 and 20 times the local median income (from the local council website). Most if my friends are two-income graduate couples earning well and working long hours, but still in their mid-30s cannot buy and are paying huge rents of at least half net household income. How are we, and the people younger than us who have massive student debt, going to pay all the extra tax needed to fund the current and future pensions, social and healthcare bill?

*dad not day! Must stop typing on phone, bloody autocorrect!

I bought my first flat in 1986, in London. It cost 10 times my starting salary in 1984, but I had qualified so it was around 4 times my salary by then. I got a 100% mortgage but it was at the legendary 15%, pretty soon afterwards.

We used to be of people who had bought during the 1970s

3 as a bird and you’re toast I have never in my life read such crap about pensioners and their passes.

First of all 3 if you were on the school run today unless you live in London you will not have seen pensioners traveling free as the passes cannot be used before 9.30

You ‘re toast if I give you my Dads phone number would you like to contact him and tell him that next year when he is going to have to give up driving and stop work that he cant have a bus pass as he will not be earning. While you are at it please tell him why nearly 70 years of working and paying tax count for nothing in your selfish eyes.

Let me tell both of you and those who agree with you a few home truths.

Where I live on the Isle of Wight our bus fares are amongst the highest in the country £10.00 for a day rover, £24 a week £84 per month, now I as a full fare payer know that other people are subsidized, thats JSA claimants who get half price travel. Children/students half price travel and of course the passes for the elderly so you would think I would have a bit of a problem with other people getting half price or free what I have to pay full price for. But what I do know is this, should my bus company Southern Vectis (part of the go-ahead group) be allowed to charge those 3 groups full price fares, my own fares would not I repeat WOULD NOT go down in price, that is because (as they admitted at a bus user group) they are NOT a public but answerable to their shareholders, so for anyone who thinks their own bus fares or their childrens bus fares will go down in price if pensioners passes are taken from them are talking out of their backsides.

And lastly 3 and toast, what did you both do today (apart from 3 school run) did you ( or have the opportunity to ) go and see friends, go to the shops, or GPs of just get out in the fresh air.

Or are you facing a lonely isolated day, not seeing anyone cut off
from human contact, because you take away a pensioners bus pass and thats what you are condemning a lot of pensioners to.

The number of homeowners in the 70's, was still relatively low. It wasn't until the sale of council houses in the 80's that ownership rose.

Can any of you economists tell me if people are becoming more likely to relocate? house prices in some parts of the UK are still affordable. With remote working increasingly a possibility, are people doing this?

My parents moved from South Devon to Manchester in their 20s because that was where my Dad had found work. He didn't buy a house until I was 5, so he would have been mid-30s by then, with three kids.

Grennie
And if you bought your first house at age 22, you were very well off!
Really, you call a salary of £10,000 in 1987 well off?

Taking care of older relatives is a much bigger burden now than it used to be - medical advances mean that the elderly infirm and demented can live for a very long time.

Most of the boomer generation have done very well in life and IME they think they deserve long luxurious retirements at the expense of young families.

In 20 years they will be less in control of the media narrative and perhaps the balance will shift.

Georgette - so what was your dad earning in 1974?

Peace - Ok it was equivalent to £23,840. Not very well off, but not a bad salary at age 22.

The Great Swindle at the moment is to define poverty as a % of gross income, but ignore assets and liabilities. A family with kids at 60% of mean income, with all it's outgoings and typically no assets, is in a totally different position to an oap with house equity and lower outgoings.

Those who bought houses in the mid 80s often got caned in the late 80s with the interest rates and price crash. The real winners in property were those who were alive and able to buy in the 60s and 70s

Talk actually that doesn't sound at all bad. I got £4,800 when I started work in 1984 but it did go up once I qualified, so by 1987 I was probably getting about £12k. The flat I bought then (1986? 1987? trying to remember exactly) was £42,500 and my Dad had a panic attack at the shocking financial responsibility I was taking on . He never earned more than £24k in his life.

I dont really have a solution as no ones really debating this did find this from money magazine

For donkey's years, the age at which you can claim your state pension benefits has been 65 for men and 60 for women.
But huge jumps in life expectancy have seen costs shoot up for the Treasury, which is paying some pensioners for more years in retirement than they spent paying National Insurance as workers.
The previous Labour government set out plans, based on recommendations from Lord Turner, to steadily increase the state pension age to 68 for both men and women over the next four decades.
The coalition government is set to link the state pension age to life expectancy. This could see it hit 73 for today's 33 year-olds and 77 for those just finishing their A-Levels.

So 73 is age I have to work up to and maybe no state pension by then! I doubt there be any of other benefits as cant see how much longer they can get away wth it when livings standards falling for everyone else.

Students now

have to no ema-not that i always agreed with that but jobs for youngesters were easier to find when I was in 6th form.

Student no longer exempt from council tax..
same goes for older child living with parents still extra council tax to pay as its amount of people in household so in case under 25s living at home are parents expected to fund the extra council tax when they reach 18?

students now have 9k a year tuition fees to go college.

Many of older professions, teaching, nursing, accountancy all now need degrees.

fe colleges, polys going, lack of decent appreticeships make it harder to go down vocational route.

fail used to be carpenter he moaned apprecticeship for him was 5years reduced to 18months when he left.

My mum and most of her siblings and freinds went to secondry modern and most of them done really well in in vocational roles mechanics, plumbers, nursing ect.

Her older sister went grammer and if dident go teaching would go admin,secretarial or bank clerks.

My uncles just retired from post office with very generous pension he acknowledges he was right place right time.

You see it in lots of companies where terms and conditions vary for new starters to older employees.

I just fear no matter how hard some younger generation work hard and get on they wont have savings, decent pensions or home ownership to fall back on.

If they decide to have kids then its very hard to save as its expensive time I have 2 under 5s.

I dont know what to suggest to mine when they leave school.

we cant afford private school since crunch happened lots people chossing state education putting more strain on places.

we dont even have enough school places for next generation.
even from moment they born in shortstaffed maternity unit they off to rough start.

Its easy to get over sentimental about things .
But i get upset when read about starving kid who could do with free breckfast, school meal or walking miles to nearest foodbank each way

state pension provison at the moment

How is the basic State Pension rate increased each year?
The rate of basic State pension is increased from April each year by at least the level of growth in average earnings. The current Government's policy is that the basic State pension will increase each year by the highest of:

growth in average earnings
prices increases
2.5 per cent
In 2013-2014 the ba

are all other benefots going up 2.5%per year.

I dont bedgrudge elderly free healthcare we have a nhs.
But they huge part of nhs/social care bill which si why both parties were thrashing out best deal so that they did not have to sell their homes to pay for all their care, lots of familys do take personal responsability for their family members not all are selfish and use parents as free childcare.

beast in my experience only self-employed people working in IT-related fields are able to do much remote working, and that still involves a lot of travel. Even if your job is not people-oriented (mine is, so not at all portable), most employers still want to see you in a workplace every day and "remote working" tends to mean "unpaid overtime evenings and weekends from home and being constantly available on email as well as a day in the office" :/

I think elderly people should have to sell their homes for residential care. But remember the exemption does not benefit elderly people, it benefits their children who will inherit their homes.

beastofburden that was a graduate salary BTW .... milk round job .... and the house was a 3 bed terrace in Kent.

And yes, pensioners have lower incomes than families, but they have lower outgoings

• mortgage generally gone
• kids generally gone
• commuting gone
• lower calorific need (70 year olds need 30% less than 20 year olds to stay the same weight)

MrsDavidCaruso, sweetheart you misread me - I am saying that those who don't earn should get help with, eg public transport, including children and young people in education.

Peace - elderly people have to pay for home helps, meals on wheels, taxis and have higher heating bills. Old people feel the cold easily and it is far more dangerous for them.

And many older people are still renting and paying rent.

talk yes- still sounds good. Mine was a graduate salary too and I got a small flat in a not-wonderful bit of London once I qualified.

Newly qualifieds in my field apparently now get £40-50k (How!!!! How!!!! ) and there are flats in my old block on at £250k, so the ratio has moved from 4 to 5 times salary, which would be OK if they waited a couple of years post qualification.

georgette I know that has been the pattern for a while. I am just wondering if it is likely to shift. House prices are a real issue for us in recruiting people where I work.

you're toast no you didn't you said this

Old people do not earn, so we pay for them to use public service that working people pay for

What part of that did I misread