What are all pensioners getting another £300 this winter??

[F0RBIDDENFRUIT]

They are amongst the richest people in the country, yes there are poor pensioners but a lot of them are way richer than anyone else.

£300 more for energy, none of the old people I know need this, they all have more money than their children.

Just because they vote, that is the only reason they can be doing this.

And some people who aren't eligible are actually worse off. Once you get pension credit you get lots of things, some people have a very small private pension which prevents them being eligible.

Has OP been back?

I'll wager these spats are being analysed by a bunch of be-braced and be-pearled researchers at Central Office to see the current state of division in the country and learn how to exploit it further.

Not really. When we say pensioners here we mean state pension age so from age 66 upwards.

@BIossomtoes still a big demographic of say 40 years. I'm not in that bracket but compare with say teenagers or young adults or the middle aged (what? 40-65?), it's still quite a sweep

Would you be ‘sour grapes’ if you begrudged giving your wealthier neighbour £300 just because they’re older than you?

@beguilingeyes

Thatcher selling off all the council houses and not allowing councils to build more was the beginning of the housing crisis we have now. It worked as a bribe to voters but what a disaster

Yes this! The problems that has caused for young people now cannot be overstated. People bought their council homes because it was the only chance they would ever have of homeownership. Many of them are pensioners now, however not their fault for trying to improve their lot.

Why should somebody get a comfortable lifestyle paid for by others when they haven’t sufficiently contributed? Life isn’t free is it?

I take it you’ll be turning down your free 30 hours child care then?

No, because I’m using it to work full time and contribute to pay people’s pensions? You don’t get 30 free hours unless both parents are in full time work. Did you work full time when you had children? If not, why not?

Yes I did. And I was a single parent so I raised my son on one wage. Are you seriously trying to tell me that single parents don’t qualify for free childcare hours?

They get 15 if one of the parents doesn’t work. Because they don’t need it tbh do they, if one parent isn’t working they should be looking after their child, the state shouldn’t be paying for them to have ‘me’ time.

What was the nursery arrangement when your son was little?

What was the nursery arrangement when your son was little?

There wasn’t one. He went to a childminder and I paid.

How much was it? Was it the equivalent of £1,500 per month?

You get NI contributions if you claim JSA IS or UC whether you work or not.

It was about 25% of my salary. And I was a single parent, there was no other money coming in.

It’s nearly half mine and that’s with the discount. Our mortgage has gone from 800 to 1400 because of the interest rates. I can’t sleep at night. Now I have to pay for a group of people of whom 20% are millionaires to get a few hundred quid each.

So blame the government @Jamtartforme not the pensioners. And make sure you vote for a party you believe will help you get people.

I cannot believe how many posters are choosing to blame groups of people (of any age) without stopping to think who makes the decisions.

The pensioners voted for the government (generally speaking).

So it’s about the same - you pay 25% of two salaries. I’m genuinely sorry about your mortgage, that’s an absolutely horrific increase - and I completely understand having experienced the same thing. It wouldn’t be any better if there was no winter fuel allowance though, this shitshow of a government would just find another way of spending it - probably one that enriched their mates.

Of course it would. No fuel allowances mean an extra 2.6 billion every year which could be used to help people who are genuinely in need. This apathetic ‘oh well it’d be misused anyway’ isn’t a reason to throw away that sort of money. I would support it if it was means tested ie to those on pension credit. I don’t want to see the minority of poor elderly people freeze. But honestly, we and so many other working families who were doing ok 5 years ago, are now desperate. I told DH in the car I feel sick from when I wake up in the morning to when I go to bed. Not that I can sleep anyway.

As for ‘it’s the same’, no it isn’t - you get the discount at 3 years old. Before that we paid the full rate for 2 years. My entire salary went on that, with DH’s paying for everything else. It’s not at all the same.

BellaBellla · Today 13:39.

You are absolutely spot on BellaBella. I am of the boomer generation and the picture you paint is what it was like for thousands of us.
Getting old isn’t optional and it comes round very quickly. It holds all sorts of things which go to make life physically and mentally difficult. It will come to all those who round on the elderly now.
Of course there needs to be a rethink and careful management of the care both financially and physically of the elderly, of the disabled and any disadvantaged group. Unfortunately the Tories aren’t going to do that, they just want to stay in power. I can only hope that Labour or whoever gets in next GE are able and willing to sort through the horrendous mess left by this government, and truly have the interests of the people in mind.

I agree. I think people need to be rewarded to work. This is our problem at the moment - there’s so many subsidiaries for everyone who is out of work, and those in work on a low or average salary, lie awake at night wondering whether £20 will stretch to payday and being told they’re lucky to have a job by those who don’t have one.

Look, I can only go by what you say. You said it was half your salary. I’m sorry you’re having such a tough time but you really are blaming the wrong people. Vote for something better. I intend to.

Totally.