to feel pissed off with selfish 'baby boomer' generation

[hermionepotter]

this was in response to a newspaper article where people surveyed wanted interest rates to go up. I could be BU I know. But it won't be those paying massive mortgages and debts who'll be wanting rates to go up, will be older people wanting interest on their savings and sod everyone else. So am I BU?

That attitude of "we work(ed) hard for what we've got" isn't confined to babyboomers though.

It's the general attitude of any wanker who doesn't acknowledge structural unfairness in society, it's widespread and irritating, but I don't think it's specific to BB'ers. (Love that new acronym )

But what about their grandchildren? Also it must be horrible for a BB to think that in 20 years' time, they are leaving a world behind that a lot of people think has got a lot worse in terms of prospects.

Like Children of Men, but slightly less dramatic!

You didn't retire on a good pension at 55 because you worked harder than people today. You were just bloody lucky

I did retire at 55. I was not 'bloody lucky'. I worked my socks off in a job I hated but forced myself to go to for almost 40 years. No Uni, no gap year, and 7 months total maternity leave in my career.

also men had to do national service 'til the late 50s. that would be ok if you liked that sort of thing but I can't imagine my db or ds doing it

Wetaugust, appreciate you worked hard, but you were lucky to have a pension scheme which allowed you to retire on a decent amount at 55.

I've worked since I was 16, worked through uni, no gap year, much less of a mat leave than I would have liked, don't even have a pension as my employer doesn't offer one. Can't afford a private one due to childcare and student loans.

I'll be working my arse off until I'm 70+, unless my health gets me first, with no pension at the end of it. PIL and their friends don't get this, they really, really don't. They think I must be doing something wrong.

"We did start out in that prefab 1960's nightmare estate you don't want to be on."
No, you don't get it Joy's mum.
I am not turning my nose up at ugly architecture! Or estates for that matter. I am saying that the only places I could get a mortgage on (maybe) are places that make 1970's Belfast look like St Tropez.

Joysmum: Thank goodness, someone else who bought their first house in a undesirable area that no one these days would want.

We bought the cheapest house in the nearest town and thought we were lucky.

On the subject of University: I know a top structural engineer who left school at sixteen and got all his qualifications at night class. He is about 45 now.

I do think this thread is ageist.

The house prices are simply supply and demand, which the governments ignored as during the boom the where quite content receiving stamp duties, taxes and the employment that came with it. Little investment in social housing, immigration without the infrastructure needed, ignoring the baby booms growing population. I bought on the back of the 18% and the repossession that followed, viewing houses that had been gutted by distraught ex home owners. The government should of never let the housing boom continue as long as is did.

"The baby boomers had it much rougher in their 20s/30s than we do now."
Er.
That;'s just not true.
My mum told me that in the 60's you could walk out of a job on Friday and into a new one on Monday. Both she and my dad got into professional jobs in their early 20's, with no degrees, or even a levels. And my Dad was no grafter, he was pretty workshy and liked to party.
They bought a house for sod all, with only one income (my mums!) and then my dad went off to college-paid for, with extra for the upkeep of the kids.
I could go on. They WERE lucky. It was the luckiest generation ever, and never to be repeated.
And yes, there was the welfare state, free NHS, free dental, free glasses, free university for anyone clever enough, cheap buses.
I could get on my bike, but it doesn't travle in time, sadly.
It would just take me to another sad town full of pound shops and giant Tescos stores.

It's not ageist to say that many people, born in a particular generation, are better off financially than many people born in a later generation. I personally don't know anyone of my age working in a standard job who will be able to retire at 55. (Unless police can still retire at 55? I have a feeling that's been changed though?)

I think it's also worth noting that many of the very cheap houses for sale can't be bought by younger people as they're cheap in part because they require significant and expensive repairs.

It's not ageist to hate it when people don't admit they lucked out a bit.
I feel sorry for the very young, and think they got the shitty end. That's not ageist either.
The problem really, with the housing crisis, is that sometime in the 90's, we stopped living in "homes" and started living in "properties". I don't want to buy a property, I want to buy a home one that I am not going to have to put a cage on the door

IfNotNowThenWhen I was talking about general society and technology rather than the jobs situation. I would hate to live in the 50s/60s. Not to mention the lack of gender equality - I couldn't do the job I had now - I probably couldn't even live with DP.

The babyboomers weren't "lucky" enough to have good pensions.

They fought for them. They went on strike, they rioted in the streets, they built the counter-culture, they changed society, they voted for politicians who adopted their values and introduced laws which protected their working conditions, wages and pensions.

Some of them preferred to complain about immigrants or whichever scapegoat they chose, but enough of them were prepared to vote and fight for the pensions, wages and working conditions they won.

Luck had nothing to do with it. You don't think the capitalist class suddenly got kind and decided to give their workers a living wage, affordable housing and a pension that would enable them to retire with dignity out of the kindness of their hearts do you? Those things were the result of struggle, not luck.

Wetaugust- you have retired at 55, after 40 years work.
People my age will never get to retire. We will have to work until we die. We will be working for 60, 70 years, and then have no retirement. This is what I struggle with. Yes- I have worked since I was 16 too. As I said upthread, at times that has been 7 days a week, at 3 jobs. There is no chance of me ever retiring- there will be no state pension when my generation reach 70.

This is precisely the situation most people were in 200 years ago. How is this progress, or good for society?

askbasil please enlighten me as to which year the riots were that led to pension reform?

alemci- my father did national service- he was an evacuee, not a boomer!

Chunderella

I understand your point that there aren't enough of cheap houses, however, my dc seem on their own in comparison to their peers when it comes to being prepared to start at the bottom.
We lived in some shells and brought our dc up in them. There were some of my friends who were holding out for the 3 bed semi in a nice area, but we were realistic. When the mortgage companies agreed to say £42k we would go for £30k houses, so we could manage if interest rates went up further.

There is a problem though, as far as I can see its the huge deposit that is needed, in percentage terms.

Don't be obtuse VworpVworp.

The point is, instead of sitting there whingeing about people being better off than them, that generation forced those people to hand over a bigger bit of the pie by various means. They were prepared to fight for it instead of sitting on their arses and whinging.

Now there's a generation of people sitting here resenting what those people won and meekly handing back those bits of pie without a fight. And blaming the baby boomers instead of the bastards who are in charge of the distribution of the pie.