Critics of so called baby boomers

[Pixxie7]

What is wrong with you people comments like waspi women are grabby and baby boomers have all the wealth because they bought their houses for a few thousands. I started work at the age of 16 with a salary of £7 a week, worked all my life. Did not have access to pension contributions until I was 52. Paid nearly 50 years of national insurance, which was for my pension which is not a benefit but a right, only to have nearly £50,000 stolen by the government. Imagine how you would feel if this happened to you.
Not saying you have it easy but you have far more opportunities than we ever had.

Need to prioritise! Blimey! Round here flats cost upwards of. £250k. Not a house, a flat.

The average salary in London is £35k. So if it takes ten years to get to that point, you'll have to get a mortgage about eight times your salary to afford the flat, not house. Not everyone has parents who can lend the deposit.

If you're living in London, a flat share is probably around £500 plus bills. Then you've got rail fares, which is about £250 a month, utility bills, £100, council tax £100, food + work lunches £200. Then they'll need to save for their pension as there won't be workplace pensions and minimal state pensions, so another £100 for that. Even if they don't go out, buy anyone a birthday or Christmas present, have any kind of holiday, never buy a coffee etc there's only about £500 per month to save for a deposit on a £25k salary. It's going to take a hell of a long time to do that.

I on the other hand am not much younger than you, maybe five years, was able to buy a housing association flat (yes they existed for single people then!) on my meagre public sector salary at the age of 23. Okay I had to have a lodger, didn't go out much, etc but it was possible and I didn't need a deposit. It nearly doubled in value by the time I sold it.

We all knew about the pension changes, so I don't know why you didn't. I knew I had to have my own pension because for years it was obvious we couldn't afford to have pensions from the age of 60 that would allow people to live very comfortably. If people were prepared to pay much more tax it might have been more possible but this is the generation that consistently voted for Margaret Thatcher's low taxation and selling off our utilities, so things now cost more. They're also voting for Boris Johnson and Brexit, so we're going to be even more stuffed.

I feel sorry for younger people now and think that older people have overall had a pretty good deal in comparison.

A girl born in 1950 was much more likely to have left school at 15, not 16 because she was much more likely to have failed the 11 + and gone to a Secondary Modern. If she was lucky she might have got a good one, and had the chance to do O levels or CSE, but much more likely to have gone to one of the more dire ones where you couldn't wait to get out at 15.

the majority will never have to fully repay their student loans.
Watch that goalpost.

Not everyone has parents who can lend the deposit.

Nobody's parents can, in fact - the mortgage lender will insist that it is a gift not a loan, categorically non repayable, and the dparents will be required to confirm that in writing.

Absolutely right about the house price multiple thing though - people in their 20s were able to buy in the 1980s and 1990s in a way that they can't possibly do now without parental help. (talking about London, other cities, South East - I'm aware in some areas it may be different.)

*the majority will never have to fully repay their student loans.

Watch that goalpost.*

Absolutely correct. Not inconceivable that in 25 yrs time the next generation will be saying those students never had it so good compared with the by-then-current £30k a year tuition fees - and supporting the government's decision to abolish the write-off.

Baby and the cloak in teacher22's folk tale, in other words.

Not inevitable though - ultimately the electorate will decide. Generally though there often seems to be public support for cutting or at least meanstesting of universal benefits for the other guy - child benefit, tv licences etc - so yes it would not be surprising if rules on student finance repayments were altered further.

*"and that's what's wrong with Bart's generation!"

Grandpa Simpson*

LOL at the OP meaning old person!!! Ha

Anyhoo so you chose to have 3 kids which meant you needed to work nights to afford being a stay at home mum during the day.
Your choice!

I agree that WASPI women were treated badly and we should have some sort of bridging arrangement in place to help them.

Having said that, retirement itself is changing and I fully expect my generation (who won't get their pension until 68 at the earliest) to keep working in part time jobs to get by. We are fucked if we have a disability or critical illness, but on the flip side, staying active does help your health.

The sad fact is that the old age support ratio is dropping. In 2004, there were 4 workers for every pensioner. By 2056, it will have to 2 workers per pensioner. This is a big headache when you remember that there's no pension pot and it's the worker's current NI contributions being used to fund the current pension obligations.

@FreshwaterBay 1965 baby ?

I am 1965 and Generation X but as it was not 64 or earlier I was not a baby boomer generation
Can't say I, in my circumstances, had a great start to be honest . We didn't all go Uni , or have parents who owned their homes.

I have been affected by this but not as much as some born a year later than me. I do not agree with "Back to 60", it is unrealistic. I would like to see a bit more understanding though. WASPI women have been caught in a societal change from women being treated as a dependant of their husband for benefit purposes to being treated as independent individuals. Women have more rights and protections now. Some of you know well off married women in this age group, not poorer single and divorced women. Some baby boomers are blinkered about the challenges facing younger people, many are not and try to be supportive. Has it occurred to anyone else that the OP sounds like a wind up designed to fuel further resentment?

I don’t think anyone had it easier. Different social problems in every generation.

Now it’s housing, decent schooling
Knife crime and gangs is a huge rising worry plus ease of drug use . Job insecurity 0 hours contracting

Generations past had massive interest rates Food was vastly more expensive. Women had little rights
Most mums were stay at home or part time.
Strikes and workplaces ruled by unions.
High unemployment.

No one has it easy

We need to support the different generations. Not be harping in about what’s fair.

It seems a little harsh that parents who do everything they can for their children then find that those children hold little but ingratitude, resentment and bitterness towards them.

I think it's not surprising there's resentment and bitterness. I believe the boomer generation is the first in history to have a better standard of living than the next generation. It's hard not to feel bitter when you see people like my mum taking everything her parents fought to establish, while simultaneously voting to strip all those advantages away from the next generation.

Meanwhile we are paying a stupid amount of tax, can’t use state schools/hospitals (because they are woefully underfunded) so have to pay out of pocket and can’t expect a state pension so have to save for our retirement ourselves. I’m sorry if I can’t find sympathy over £50k when your generation practically bankrupted the state a people like us have been left to foot the bill.

I'mnotyourgranny I am sorry if your Mum is a selfish cow but she does not represent an entire generation. That is the problem with this discussion, people are not thinking about the broader picture but sharing anecdotes fro their own experience. Many baby boomers are not gleefully screwing over their own kids , they try to help them.

Tax rates were actually higher in 70s and 80s though - 33% basic until 1979, then 30% until 1986 - and higher rate (though op wouldn't have been paying it I assume!) 83% until 1979.

I think it's very difficult to make meaningful comparisons across the generations because there were so many variables. And for individuals the 'average' is not really relveant - what matters is their own situation.

I'mnotyourgranny I am sorry if your Mum is a selfish cow but she does not represent an entire generation. That is the problem with this discussion, people are not thinking about the broader picture but sharing anecdotes fro their own experience. Many baby boomers are not gleefully screwing over their own kids , they try to help them.

Of course it's not everyone from that generation. But lets be honest here, my mum isn't the only pensioner voting for parties with policies that protect her generation whilst screwing over the younger ones,

Generations past had massive interest rates

Actually that's a benefit because it was priced into house prices. The generation that started with high rates benefited massively when rates fell because house prices rose. The generation that started with low rates had low rates priced in which means (1) house prices are much higher for them, and (2) all their risk is downside in that if rates move they will move up, making house prices fall against what they paid.

And when a boomer cashes in that lovely unearned price rise, remember it's being funded by the person who bought the house and means many years of mortgage payments which they DO have to earn. Massive transfer of earning capacity from the working to the retired.

Velveteen People nowadays actually pay much less tax than the boomer generation paid. Tax free allowances are much higher and tax rates are lower.

The Tories gave us tax cuts to win elections and now people complain our public services are underfunded.

No, she isn't the only pensioner voting that way and we have to be honest that there is a tendency towards more conservative voters in the over 60 group. Statistics tell us that. There are still plenty of boomers that vote with the interests of their children and grandchildren in mind and also general concerns re health, educatio etc. Every generation has it's share of selfish people.

There was a really interesting piece on the BBC website a few months ago, looking at house price affordability for a young couple through the decades.

I think the Blair years were seen as a unique bubble of prosperity.

Ok, let me help you understand the housing part.

My mother, single mother, worked in retail on little more than minimum wage buys an ex council 3 bed house with 3 kids to support in the 90's which is now paid off. She probably had help from my grandparents, but I will not be getting help from my parents.

My situation: me an DP both earn close to national average wage each with two kids to support. Need 30k deposit, and even with our combined income would not be able to afford to buy an ex council 3 bed house in our area (same area as my mums).

Yes, we do have smartphones and crap like Alexa and Xboxes that we can buy. Clothing is a bit cheaper too. But, what I really want is to be able to have a permanent home for my kids and not be paying off the mortgage of a baby boomer who already has more than 2 houses instead. I also would like my kids to go to university if they want to, but that's going to cost us too, so I'm kind of praying that they don't.

My mum had the opportunity to not work/work part-time and spend more time with her children, but I don't have that luxury.

Does it make sense now?

I don't blame baby boomers for the state of things for young people. It us the government that have put the needs of younger generations last for years and years now, as they have not regarded them as politically active. Baby boomers have just kept voting the same government in that looks after the older generations, so it's hardly surprising there are inequalities. What does annoy me is the whole "snowflake" generation thing. That kind of attitude is seen in all generations, not just younger people.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=bbc+first+time+buyer+affordability+brighton&ie=&oe=

Found it. Hope this link works.

Velveteen People nowadays actually pay much less tax than the boomer generation paid. Tax free allowances are much higher and tax rates are lower.

True tinkly, and despite the undoubted problems, in many ways education and healthcare is better now than in the op's youth/early adulthood. 5 yr survival rates in health; class sizes in primary schools etc (can remember a class of 42!). Obviously there are elements that are not, as well - I don't remember anyone having to wait 3 weeks for a gp appointment in those days for instance.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/pjfxZM72Gj/house-buyer-time-machine

Ah that's better.