Ageism on Mumsnet (and in society)

[SusanandMidge]

There's a discussion going on at the moment as to whether old people should be made move out of their family homes to free them up for younger couples (which thankfully no one on that particular thread is endorsing). However it's a topic that has come up a number of times on MN with many posters bitterly begrudging the fact that old people are 'hogging' family sized homes, or that their parents' house is now worth ten times what they paid for it in 1972.

I have also seen posters complaining about elderly people using the supermarket at weekends or being in the post office at lunchtime, because they should leave these busy times to working people; questioning why their teenagers should offer seats to elderly people who travel for free; and in many ways belittling and being unpleasant about the older generation.

I know all generations get their stereotyping but some of the ageism is really unpleasant. It's a minority of posters but their begrudging, bitter and hostile attitude towards the elderly can be really depressing to read.

I guess I'd just like to know what struggles younger people face now that they think my generation (X) didn't face?

No one thinks it wasn't hard then but many things have got a lot harder for many.

I agree those in political power have a lot to answer for. The fact that London is rapidly becoming a playground for the wealthy and a place where no ordinary person can afford to buy a family home, that once thriving village communities have been decimated by investors and 2nd homers, that young parents are forced to leave their children with childminders from 7am to 7pm all week is shameful and speaks of an economy that puts the welfare of its people way, way behind generating more and more money.

going back a few years but the house was £29k - I was earning £850 a month and it crippled me - I remember that - trying to pay student loans, bills and a mortgage

53 - I've worked the same job for 26 years - it improved when Labour came to power and set up Connexions - as did the services for young people - pretty stagnant since then

so you will have benefited from some wage growth whereas many young people have seen it only stagnate or go backwards. And the pension ts & cs are still the same?

Same here.

going back a few years but the house was £29k

So 10% of 29k...

trying to pay student loans, bills and a mortgage

What are student loan costs these days?

Well I have only had a pension for 13 years because I couldn;t afford it before - am reliant on TC to top up my wages etc - but you know what else has happened since then - tory government

Let's see if the Tories get voted out, I don't think they will...

a lot - I have 2 at Uni - I am opposed to loans - I actively campaigned against their introduction - it's not my fault ffs

yes 10% of £29k on £850 a month to live in a mid terrace ex council house in an area where there were weekly stabbings, gang violence and ASB - I was living the dream

it's not my fault ffs

Who said anything was your fault?

I just answered your post asking I guess I'd just like to know what struggles younger people face now that they think my generation (X) didn't face?

🤷🏻‍♀️

You clearly haven’t looked at the polls lately then. Or seen that they’ve lost all but one of the seats they’ve defended in by-elections in the last couple of years.

Do you think your dc will buy a house at the same age you did @ghostyslovesheets?

Not sure but if it does swap over we’ll see if there’s much in it.

@Blossomtoes well the polls indicated that Brexit wasn't going to happen 🤔
We don't want promises they will make, the scrapping of IHT was very popular on here.

I'd very much like to be proved wrong, we shall see!

low wages - yes like us in the 80's and early 90's, high inflation - yes again

student loans - yes I think they wanted £116 a month at one point

Affordable homes - yup - that's why I had to buy a crap house in a crap area

I'm not seeing a huge difference in my experience in my teens and 20's and theirs? I was 34 when I worked for |Connexions and saw my first big pay increase - by 2012 it was gone and out of a staff of 100's, reduced to 27 - there were 2 of us left standing - it hasn't been easy

we can agree on that!

They can’t afford to cut taxes. Have you seen the size f the national debt and the amounts of interest we’re paying on it? Tax cuts are off the table.

The aging population puts extra strain on the system which feeds through how to pay for it

I think the tories will lose more seats in by elections even before the general elections .

I'm not seeing a huge difference in my experience in my teens and 20's and theirs?

But statistically house prices vs salaries are higher now.

low wages - yes like us in the 80's and early 90's,

"Real wage growth averaged 2.9% in the 1970s and 1980s, 1.5% in the 1990s, 1.2% in 2000s, but has fallen to minus 2.2% since the first quarter of 2010, the ONS figures showed."

So not quite the same every decade...

bring back Logan's Run!

Other things that exist now that didn't - the only route into my career was to do a post grad - which was funded by a loan you had to pay back in 12 months - now you can do a degree apprenticeship and be paid a decent wage to study - so there are some things that are better

My daughter has finished yr 1 and her accommodation has fallen through so she is not sure if she can go back (can't find anything) so she's looking into a degree apprenticeship - she'd start on £21k - that wasn't an option for us

And there's also the freezing of income tax bands which pulls more people in despite lack of wage growth. Of course this impacts all workers but younger people are impacted more as it's harder to build wealth.

Other things that exist now that didn't -

who claimed otherwise?

I don’t dislike any group but I do think we’ve handed the younger generation a bit of a shit shoot

Exacerbated by pandemic goings on and climate