to think the ageism on here has been disgusting recently

[EverythingYouDoIsaBalloon]

Distaste for the idea of older mothers. Pesky pensioners daring to shop at weekends when they've 'got all week' to do it. Retirement-age people being lambasted for not resigning to free up jobs for younger people. A lack of comprehension as to why older people are even in the workplace at all. Calls for over-80s to be stripped of their driving licences. A solemn assertion from one pp earlier in the year that '60 isn't young. It's old.' like middle age doesn't even exist. And that’s just off the top of my head.

Some people are going to get a shock when they get older themselves, according to some of the comments I’ve seen on this forum recently.

Surely they’ll realise by then that we’ve moved on from WW2?

I've heard before about the silent generation voting to Remain, but haven't seen any stats on this. Most of the surveys and polls grouped all old people together so from 60 or 65 to 100+ all in one group. Can you show me the stats where this age group is broken down?

@Gwenhwyfar I've heard it several times but annoyingly can't seem to find any stats (just had a quick Google). I'm now interested to know the stats if anyone's got them. Out of curiosity rather than to damn or applaud any particular group.

I can give an anecdote but that's not really helpful as it's just DH's parents. Both are the 'silent generation' and both voted Remain (in the original 70s referendum, one voted to join the EC, one voted against).

I’m 61, run 5km in 27min, deadlift 90kg, work full time. What’s old about that?

Yesterday I saw an instagram reel about a 93 year old gymnast. She is fantastic but also is most definitely old.

I don't personally see 60 as old, but I don't see what going to the gym has to do with age. You can be 40 and have a physical disability or 80 in good health. Your age is the same.

Well, it depends.

My mother and my father are both 64 and 67.

They are quite unfit. My mother had a knee replacement and needs hip replacement soon. She can hardly walk.

My father isn't the same since having pneumonia two years. He needs a lot of sleep, more than before.

I've ran into the mother of a former classmate lately, also in her 60s. She still rides her bike like a 20 year old through the village....

I hear what you're saying, but the trouble is that 'old' is so often used in a pejorative sense, and by people who tend to write off older people, that it's difficult not to bristle at the term when it's used in certain contexts. It's different if a person chooses to describe themselves as old, obviously.

I'm not particularly scared of death, though.

Sorry, that was in reply to @Gwenhwyfar - I forgot to hit 'quote'.

If you've RTFT you'll have seen that there isn't a consensus that 60 is old.

To be fair op if 60 Is middle aged then we'd all be living to 120.

40 mis middle aged.

Yep Just seen a disgusting post directed at a 60 year old cancer patient on the cancer "lesser mortals" thread

Still waiting to know how you’ve been abused !

Don't forget that "boomers" are responsible for the housing shortage by having the sheer audacity to remain in houses they worked hard for and paid for, but the houses are now "under-occupied".
Despite the fact that the houses may contain years of memories and there is room for their families to come and stay.
They refuse to downsize to bungalows which don't actually exist and refuse to move to retirement flats which can have punitive service/maintenance charges. How dare they?
I personally feel that young adults have it worse than I did at that stage in life, particularly in terms of the cost of housing and going into Higher Education.
But these issues are the fault of government decisions and actions, not of older people who just happened to be young at a particular time in history.
I agree that ageism is the only "-ism" that hasn't been/isn't being addressed as totally unacceptable.

The ageism on mumsnet has always disgusted me. Anyone over the age of 70 are pigeonholed into Brexit voting, doddery old racist boomers who can't use technology and need constant care from family who find their views problematic.

They aren't a homogeneous group of people who suddenly hit 70 and turn into racist, ignorant doddery old idiots.

In fact, my mum and all her friends do not fit this criteria at all and sometimes it is upsetting the way older people are talked about.

I’m 61, run 5km in 27min, deadlift 90kg, work full time. What’s old about that?

The fact your are 61 as that’s your age

The ageism is in feeling the need to use 'old' at all as it has acquired negative connotations (due to ageism). I think we all understand what 'she is 60' or 'he is 80' means without the need to say 'an old woman of 60'. Just as we would understand if our doctor told us we were 20 stone without the need for her to say 'you're a fat woman of 20 stone'.

@Cesarina And yet a couple with kids who live in a social housing house who then split up then means that TWO homes are then required.

I think that's a good way of looking at it.

Yes, I see it here every day, either explicitly or in attitudes. It stinks.

In fact I don’t know anyone in my circle who voted Brexit. Generalisations never hold any water, so they can fuck off.

How many times! It’s not a generalisation to say older people were more in favour of Brexit. This does not mean every old person voted Brexit but it also doesn’t mean you can ignore statistics when they don’t suit your narrative.

Also it's very unhelpful to condemn people for their voting choices. If you don't like the way they voted, look at why they did and address their concerns instead of saying "you're Bad". That's relevant for any election.

well to do that you need people to first acknowledge they voted the way they did. I think it’s ok to think someone is bad for voting Trump for example.

To clarify, my concept of middle age is somewhat fluid 😄 and not mathematically based. I simply view middle-aged as meaning 'neither young nor old'. Obviously different people are going to place the age markers in different places, though, and I'm not claiming my definition of middle age as anything other than my own subjective opinion.

Although this statistic includes Gen X, I'd say the 2 million over 50s private renting definitely wouldn't agree they were responsible for the housing problems.

They're victims of it. Arguably more than younger people. Because not only are they often ignored in housing discussions, but also given their age (and the fact that data indicates older renters are the poorest group of renters) they have much less chance than younger people of ever being able to buy.

There's also 4.6 million over 50s still to pay off their mortgage.

Also RTB still happens. So while some young people are doing RTB, other young people are struggling to afford decent housing. Just as with the older generations inequality within the same generation continues to be a thing.

But agree that downsizing isn't the answer in many cases. Moving home is always psychologically hard, and as people get older it's also physically hard.

Also, as well as the shortage in many areas of suitable homes, downsizing unfairly harms single people, childless and childfree couples, and only child families. They deserve decent affordable homes too.

Agree the housing problems are the fault of government policies, not individuals of any particular age group. Both Tory and Labour governments.

And the answer is more social housing, for all who need it, young and old families and the children/childless.

The ageism is in feeling the need to use 'old' at all as it has acquired negative connotations (due to ageism). I think we all understand what 'she is 60' or 'he is 80' means without the need to say 'an old woman of 60'. Just as we would understand if our doctor told us we were 20 stone without the need for her to say 'you're a fat woman of 20 stone'.

We clearly don’t understand what old is though? 60 isn’t old nor is 77 🤷🏻‍♀️

You get moderate and angry people everywhere. Some folk are quite rude about younger people too as it goes. It can work both ways.

In my friends mum's care home (she's 80 something) they play 60s music. They had a Neil Diamond turn last week. So I'm fully expecting we'll have raves when my time comes.

It is to a 80 year old, it's all relative

Age isn’t relative though on a general level. If an 80 yr old thinks a 45 yr old is young it doesn’t mean they actually are. In the same way if a 10 yr old thinks a 25 yr old is old it doesn’t mean they are old.

My PIL have DH's grandma (in her 90s) living with them. They had his other grandma too until she died. They are in their early 70s. They claim no help or additional state benefits at all apart from their state pensions. FIL has a nasty chronic condition which they manage without any assistance when it flares up. They are a godsend to me and DH helping us with our 3 DC. They are wonderful grandparents to our DC. They volunteer at their church, FIL has set up a refugee support project that is fantastic. They do all kinds of things to contribute to their community and help others. Give 10% of their income to charity as a minimum by DD. They are positive, cheerful, kind.
Both worked their whole adult lives .
They raised their own children to be good citizens- never been in trouble, no drugs/alcohol issues, decent human beings, kind to people and animals, give back more to society than they take.
They have never been a burden on the state.
I am so sick of the nasty comments on Mnet about anyone over 60.