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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to ask if you're pissed off with the Baby Boomers?

825 replies

DamFineBeaver · 08/02/2015 17:33

Because people who are currently young-ish adults (MN's main demographic?), and younger, will be paying for the lavish lifestyle they've enjoyed?
The money borrowed for their nice big pensions will be paid back by us and our children.

Does this mean they shouldn't spend so much time in Tenerife?

OP posts:
Tanith · 09/02/2015 16:40

Did you mean 15, Bauertime?

My mum has now retired and the school leaving age was 15 when she was at school: I believe it was changed from 14 in the 40s.

DidoTheDodo · 09/02/2015 16:46

Good grief Margaret..your husband earned around £50K pa and got a pension of £2,600 a month?

I earn about that and the sum total of all my little pensions added together (in several years time when they mature) will be £5,000 A YEAR!

I'm a baby boomer. (looks glum at being considered to be well off)

catsmother · 09/02/2015 16:49

Margaret I think you need to bow out gracefully before you dig yourself a bigger hole. The lifestyle you currently have is one which many people would be delighted to look forward to in their retirement but will never be able to achieve because so much has changed since you were their age. To be honest, 'so what' if you have to watch the pennies .... so do many, but they're doing it in order to meet essential expenses, and NOT to build a rainy day fund. I would feel very reassured indeed if someone could wave a magic wand and promise that after I stopped working I'd be able to run a 6 year old car (which would be a 'young' car for many!) AND save around £400 each month.

Many would also love to be able to look back at their younger years and relish the memories they have of bringing up their own children ... unfortunately, the majority simply can't afford to do that now even if they wanted to as two wages are needed to meet housing costs (and the rest).

It's not clear if you worked after your children left home ? If you didn't (and I admit I'm reading between the lines here) then that is another thing to be thankful for. I'm not suggesting for a second that raising kids isn't worthwhile but it's simply not a choice for the majority any longer and even fewer women remain out of the paid workplace once their kids are grown. Bear in mind too that what you describe as supporting your husband in his work .... i.e. running the home so he didn't have to worry about any of 'that' .... still has to be done one way or another by people who work. Most people can't afford cleaners, gardeners, someone to iron for them etc etc and so invariably many (most?) families today not only have to put far far more paid hours into running their household and meeting bills, but they also have far far less time to spend together as a family because, for example, evenings and weekends are so often spent playing 'catch up' (with all the drudgework). That is another benefit which women like you enjoyed by being able to run a household - financially - on just one wage.

So yes .... in many ways - then and now - you are incredibly fortunate. No-one is suggesting you've done anything wrong per se but a little more grace and empathy towards others less lucky - through no fault of their own except by accident of birth and certainly NOT through them being shy of work - wouldn't go amiss.

Perhaps you'd like to ponder the luxury of being able to save AT ALL - let alone a 1/3 of income ..... I don't mean it allows people to buy luxury goods, but it affords them the very real luxury, as you described yourself, of being able to meet unexpected expenses without having to cut back on food and heating (and you know, sometimes, there's nothing left to cut), or without accruing debt to do so. It also allows them the luxury of going to bed, getting to sleep within a reasonable time, and actually remaining asleep until the morning - without waking up in a panic several times - because they have the absolute luxury of security and don't have to stress (too much) about money.

Please don't keep implying you're hard-up simply because you don't have the flash car or the fancy holidays. Being frugal is no bad thing if it allows you modest security but it is NOT possible, however hard they work, for everyone to achieve. You seem to think that if people aren't being as careful with the 'pennies' as you are that they must, by default, be splashing the cash on totally unnecessary stuff. Undoubtedly, some will be I grant you - there will always be people who are irresponsible with money - but please accept that most people who don't save can't save, rather than won't save.

Want2bSupermum · 09/02/2015 16:57

Speaking to my dad about this and he says that our generation has it much harder because good starting jobs are offshore these days. The regulations in place today make it hard to do business in the UK compared to the 50's and 60's.

He is also against pushing everyone into a degree and I hear him on this. He said 3% had a degree in his day so having a levels was plenty to get you into a really good job with companies training you in the skills needed to do your job. With degrees a dime a dozen he now looks for those with a masters and reads their dissertation to gauge their ability. His generation didn't start off with debt and started working much earlier. This he says is the major difference that holds our generation back.

He also says that most office jobs are the new factory work as a 60 hour week isn't healthy. Back in his day an office job was 35-40 hours a week. Travel was minimal too as it was so expensive. Even in the 80s my dad was one of very few flying more than 1 million miles a year. He spoke to BA about this recently and it's much more common now.

Yes my dad is active and challenges his MP to support our generation. He thinks house prices are so far gone that any correction is going to be an unholy mess.

DidoTheDodo · 09/02/2015 16:58
FaFoutis · 09/02/2015 17:02

catsmother - that is a patient and kind explanation of reality.

Floisme · 09/02/2015 17:08

I'm a baby boomer who will be working for some time yet (unless they kick me out) and who won't starve but who won't be retiring to Tenerife either. Much as these threads piss me off, I had to come on to say how much I disagree with Margaret. Some boomers were fortunate, a lot of us not so much. However the ones who are now comfortably off did not get there by hard work alone and I think it's crass to say so.

The young people I feel most sorry for are teenagers/under 25s.

HelenaDove · 09/02/2015 17:32

"Moniker1 Mon 09-Feb-15 09:16:03
and not put their good fortune down to hard work and lack of wastefulness

OMG, the wastefulness I see nowadays actually depresses me. I'm a baby boomer and if I was young now no doubt I would waste to the same extent but I remember trailing to the launderette every week because there was no assumption of washing machines in rented property "

yes because tenants should know their place Hmm

merrymouse · 09/02/2015 17:45

I'm not convinced that it is cheaper to go to a launderette than have a washing machine in your house. A washing machine can be bought for less than £200 and will last a number of years - I expect this cost has greatly reduced over time. Most houses now have plumbing and space for a washing machine so installation isn't a problem.

On the other hand housing is in short supply.

Times change.

merrymouse · 09/02/2015 17:47

(So the cost of supplying a tenant with a washing machine is very little, particularly in comparison to the rent).

JillyR2015 · 09/02/2015 17:55

Generational comparisons are always difficult - how do you compare bombs and rationing or national service or no central heating or children sleeping 4 per room or whatever compared with what people have today?

I am very concerned that the Government is making it okay for young people to take on massive debts (so concerned I will ensure all my children graduate debt free) whilst offering many more pensioners 4% interest on £20k savings. The state is saying - young people take on massive debts and old people we will reward you for saving but not reward the young.
Cameron got clobbered once by saying people should save, not spend (the state wants you to spend to get the economy going) and Lord Young who pointed out how low interest rates are lost his job but both were right - reduce debt whilst interest rates are so low and save if you can.

Floisme · 09/02/2015 17:57

I agree that the very young are being shafted.

BauerTime · 09/02/2015 18:08

No Tanith he definitely left at 14 to work. Before the school leaving age I know but he had no choice. He rode a butchers bike and got paid in meat.

HelenaDove · 09/02/2015 18:13

Im in a rental property and know of no one who has been supplied with a washing machine. Only of tenants who have bought our own. Which is fine before anyone starts. I just dont like the assumption that tenants are just given white goods.

merrymouse · 09/02/2015 18:17

Tenants are never just given white goods - they rent them.

Viviennemary · 09/02/2015 18:18

I think a lot of women will be left high and dry in their sixties and seventies. Because a lot of people don't have husbands who earned £50K a year on a gold plated pension scheme.

HelenaDove · 09/02/2015 18:21

YY merrymouse but ive seen assumptions that they get given them on this board before.

drudgetrudy · 09/02/2015 18:30

*Margaret-face it-you are quite well off.
My NHS pension is £8000pa+ state pension-I have no mortgage.
I won't be having many foreign holidays but I am well off compared to my children who have young families.

It is true that the govt have their priorities wrong with pensioner bonds etc and this is causing resentment as it helps relatively affluent pensioners.

I worked full time apart from 5 years when my kids were very young but many women my age were SAHMs-this doesn't mean they were lazy f*ers-society was different in the 70s and 80s.

Why can't everyone be honest and admit that there are responsible hard working people in all generations and also passengers.

The generalisations and prejudice on here are ridiculous.

bloomingMargaret · 09/02/2015 18:45

I do see what some of you are saying. But my husbands income was very average, its about the same as the average household income thesedays with two incomes.

You say you earn the same as my husband, but he did work in the public sector so did get paid half what he would do with the private sector but as a compromise got an alright pension.

I know houses have gone up a lot in value, but that is nothing to do with boomers. There are still places in the country where houses are cheaper but many people want to move into a family house straight away. I was married for 8 years before we moved into a family home and we had to really struggle to get it. And the struggle continued for many years.

DamFineBeaver · 09/02/2015 18:49

there are responsible hard working people in all generations and also passengers

Absolutely. Within generations, some give more, some take more.

However, you can also look at the net effect of generations as groups. As a generation, the bbs have (unknowingly) left younger people with a lot of debt. To blame individual bbs for the situation is clearly mad, I know, but there are possible implications for how bbs should behave now.

OP posts:
DamFineBeaver · 09/02/2015 18:51

I should have emphasised possible there.

OP posts:
Want2bSupermum · 09/02/2015 18:57

I have talked to my dad about the waste thing. Small things like leaving things plugged in, multiple lights in a room, leaving lights on when not in the room doing something and boiling a kettle more than once are examples of behavior that didn't occur in his home growing up.

He has also talked a lot about the coffee culture and going out to eat. Just two things that were not done by his generation. He does go out to eat a lot but hell will freeze over before he spends £3 on a coffee at costa or Nero. He does say that entertainment was always done at home and it's a good thing people get out more. The coffee shop is just a vehicle to enable this.

Also cooking is very different today. Egg and chips was considered a good meal back then. Just think of how much more an omelette with veggies in it costs.

phineasferb · 09/02/2015 19:14

Nothing wrong with 4 children in a room Jilly

Dressingdown1 · 09/02/2015 19:15

When I look around our dcs and nieces/nephews, I don't recognise the young people talked about here. All of our dcs have permanent jobs, own their own homes and have a good standard of living. They have been helped by their parents, but did not all go to university. They do work hard, but they play hard too. Think exotic holidays, expensive hobbies etc.

Obviously there are big differences between younger people, just as there are between older people. You just cannot generalise based on age.

phineasferb · 09/02/2015 19:23

Bloomingmargaret the average household income is actually 32k