"Its because people in need are being told theres no money to help them, while they watch pensioners on a much higher income and with big assets being given the free bus passes they are told are not available for them. Its not difficult to see why they are not happy."
Not just bus passes, winter fuel payments, free tv licence, prescriptions (outside Scotland), eye tests, railcards, retail discounts...
I don't begrudge them for the pensioners that aren't so well off but those like my parents and several of my aunts and uncles who are VERY well off but still claim/use them - yes I think that's wrong.
"Because they are a useful voting block, pensioners as a group get a lot of things that aren't economically justified or efficient." Exactly.
I'm politically engaged/active, I vote, I communicate with my MP and others in politics. What else am I meant to do? And if we're talking politics what's stopping pensioners from voting for parties that have fairer policies? From supporting the generation containing their children and grandchildren?
What's actually happening now is other pensioners are suffering as a result. The cuts to social care and nhs affect pensioners more than most other demographics.
beyond absolutely - there's pensioners that need more that aren't getting it because it's going to pensioners that really don't need it.
There's a fair few I know need reminding there's no pockets in a shroud.
Own homes, buy cars, have holidays, enjoy retirement but NOT at the expense of others inc other pensioners.
My dad retired at 49, with a very nice military pension (taxpayers paying for that) he's been retired longer than he worked there!
Mum didn't always work full-time even after we were grown and gone so the "they worked hard they earned it" doesn't really always stack up either.
"Between. Them they have been drawing state pensions for almost 50 years despite only one of them working for less than 30 years." Exactly
One of my aunts is worse off BECAUSE she cared for my gran for years, decades while the other siblings continued in their careers and were able to contribute not only to state pension but private pensions, isa's etc too.
"Boomers just like to believe the world is exactly the same for the yoof today and any problems are their own fault nothing to do with the seismic shifts that are widely recognised." Yes, my mum is slightly more aware than my dad who is completely blinkered (he still thinks it's possible to leave a job Friday and walk into a new one Monday), the less well off aunts and uncles are also more conscious of how things currently are than the wealthy ones (who have bus and rail passes and accept their winter fuel payments - even though they're often on holiday in the winter, for months at a time).
I also think it's ridiculous pensioners in social housing that's far bigger than they need - that's what the bedroom tax was presented as addressing but not what happened. A lone pensioner does not need to be in a 3-bed front n back garden house.
"Do wealthy people travel by bus?" Yes my family members all from a big city where it's mainly easier to get around by public transport than be stuck in traffic jams and pay extortionate parking charges, so they never bothered learning to drive. I'm sure this isn't very unusual.
"You can't rely on inheritence, or it could come too late to be of any practical use."
"or those who think my generation just aren't trying hard enough, with no acknowledgement that things have changed." That's what my dad and the better off aunts and uncles are like.
Both my parents are from big families too and are the eldest, the less well off siblings are the youngest ones who are nearer my age. There's tension among the siblings because the older better off ones just don't get it.
"It is grim to read resentment of the ‘make do and mend’ generation who learned to live within their means and not to expect to have it all." Generalisation works both ways - my parents weren't "make do and mend" most of dads wages were spent at the pub!
"because they had paid into the system ~ and this would entitle them to take out from the system" not how it works - which is what those on working age benefits are told repeatedly.
"The younger generations know they will have to take out private pensions and financially plan for retirement
but take a look at the reality - they are NOT ACTUALLY DOING IT." They often can't AFFORD to.
"Pensioners are not the ones emptyjng the pot." Except they are, pensions are the biggest benefit sector, nhs and social care spending mostly on pensioners. Not saying that's wrong in principle but it is emptying the pot.
Things aren't so different for some of us now, I've no curtains as can't afford, no shower either, watching every penny and currently worried sick about further cuts to disability benefits. I only have the heating on when dd home to save money so I stay in bed wrapped up to stay warm. No fancy pay tv, no wild nights out, no new clothes/shoes since I can't remember when, don't smoke/drink/drugs/fancy food... My parents had it easier than dd and I ever have her whole childhood.
"Why do you think people have private pensions through luck"
Because all wealth is about luck
digitalsynopsis.com/inspiration/privileged-kids-on-a-plate-pencilsword-toby-morris/
"Many people pay in to private pensions and do so by not spending on something else." There are families with 2 full time working parents needing to use FOOD BANKS and not due to irresponsible spending, where are they supposed to find money for a private pension?
Re they studied and weren't earning - no but they weren't running up £10,000's of student debt either!