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.

It's ageist to stereotype.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was not the same as Joe Biden.

I think there's a misconception the baby boomers are to blame for the economy when in reality it is the government and poor decisions made.

I think older people are an easy target for some as they are perceived have their big houses and empty rooms while younger people struggle to get on the housing ladder, but it is not the fault of the older generation.

Driving honestly though should need a re-qual in my opinion but not just because ppl are old and eyesight may be going etc but because cars / roads etc evolve and new laws and standards come in which everyone needs to keep up with.

I pity the people who are wound up by things such as boomers, the elderly, people who earn more than them etc. They must have such a lack of agency and control over their own lives, and their negative thoughts become a trap they cannot escape. They only wind themselves up.

I'm happy my father still works in his late 70s. I'm happy my boomer friend is enjoying her retirement, as well as looking after her toddler DGD overnight—whilst being over 65!

Not sure what your point is in relation to what I posted @IpsyUpsyDaisyDoos

I said my kids have it easier than I did because I worked hard my whole life (48 years without a single break except for maternity leave) to give them a better start in life than my parents gave me - I could afford to send them on school trips/paid for extra-curricular events/funded their hobbies/sent them all to university/helped them with house deposits etc etc none of which I had.

And it was NOT possible for me to be a SAHM - it was not the norm in the 1990s when I was having my children.

Having four adults children I am fully aware of the situation 18-35 year olds are facing!

Well said.

I am so sick of the complaints about ageism on mn. Young people take a pounding with all the snowflake comments and no one gives a shit.

'Take a pounding' is an exaggeration I think, though there are certainly unfair generalisations made at times about young people.

I see far more generalisations about grandparents not doing any childcare or not taking an interest in the grandchildren, with the assumption that all older people are selfish. It really irritates me.

Almost every grandparent I know, and at my age I know a lot, does weekly childcare, three of them travelling to different cities nearly two hours away to do so. The only one who doesn't has her only grandchildren on another continent.

I could therefore generalise that all grandparents do childcare, but I'm not that stupid.

Driving honestly though should need a re-qual in my opinion but not just because ppl are old and eyesight may be going etc but because cars / roads etc evolve and new laws and standards come in which everyone needs to keep up with.

With how many computers there are in cars, combined with people getting noticeably dumber, it's hardly surprising that there are far more accidents on the roads these days.

Actually I was just telling you why a lot of younger generations get annoyed (i.e. my MIL constantly telling me how it's easier now) but also that I understood the fact that some things were harder for your generation.

Kind of an agreeing and expanding sort of thing.

@Mytholmroyd just to add, I was a kid in the 90s and my DH in the 80s. We grew up in very different places and circumstances. Both of us knew very few families with two working parents.

Generalisations about age groups (or any group) are unhelpful and ignore those in whichever group who don't fit the stereotype.

There should be help (decent affordable housing, financial support, whatever other help needed) for all people who are struggling whatever their age.

The State of Ageing 2023 offers a clear rebuttal of the “wealthy baby boomer” narratives that have become so commonplace in public discourse, fueling intergenerational conflict and resentment towards our older population.

Although it is undeniable that there are wealthy older people, wealth inequality within older age groups is vastly greater than between older and younger age

https://ageing-better.org.uk/blogs/busting-wealthy-boomers-myth

Okay! Understood 😊

I dont think its ageist to point out the impracticality of retired folks shopping at a weekend.

Some, maybe many, of the retired people shopping at the weekend might be busy providing childcare for their grandchildren during the week

What, all of them?

Why is it impractical? Surely, if that's the day that suits them, it's practical?

It's not only work that happens Monday to Friday. There's a lot of groups, activities, hobby clubs etc that meet through the week. I'm routinely frustrated that things I'd like to do with my toddler fall only on my working days, and I don't even work all five weekdays.

I think it's your right to shop on whatever day suits you.
How about we ban 30 year olds shopping on a Tuesday? Just as ridiculous.

Here's the data on 80 year old's driving:

In 2019*, 203 drivers aged 60 and above were killed, 1,868 were seriously injured and 7,640 were slightly injured in road accidents in Britain 5 . Although the casualty trend for this age group is decreasing, it is decreasing more slowly than for other ages. The risk of being involved in a road accident increases after the age of 70 years, but up to that age, drivers are no more likely to cause a crash than to be the victim of another road user’s mistake. However, drivers over 70 years, and especially over 80 years, are more likely to be at fault when they crash.

Underlying health conditions, and some types of medication taken to treat those problems, are a common factor in accidents involving older drivers. Indeed, a proportion of older driver fatalities occur when a driver dies of natural causes while driving, and their vehicle immediately crashes.

Older drivers are commonly involved in collisions at junctions, often because they misjudge the speed/distance of other vehicles or fail to see a hazard. Visual impairment may be a factor in this type of crash. Due to their more fragile health and physical condition, older drivers are more likely to suffer injuries when they crash and/or to take longer to recover from their injuries.

60 is old - and I say that as a 50 year old. A 27 year old might not feel young but it doesn't mean they aren't. You can be old and still be fit, active and doing lots of interesting stuff, you don't have to be young to be engaged with the world. I don't want to have to try to look young or pretend I'm still young at 60! I also wouldn't want to be a mother of a teenager at 60, there's nothing wrong with that.

Personally I hate that being old is seen as some terrible horror and that we must all believe/pretend we're young forever.

Well, I am genuinely struggling to recall any of my daughter's friends who had a SAHM and none of our female friends were one either - they were midwives, riding school owners, hairdressers, social workers, teachers, doctors, environment health scientists, academics all went back to work after maternity leave.

Distaste for the idea of older mothers.

Its not distaste to note the medical risks to both baby & mother of pregnancy in your forties. Neither is it distaste to mention the statistical likelihood of conceiving quickly/ easily at that age, or the low success rate of ivf with owns egg after age 40.

You sound like you're in a cushy 9 to 5, Monday to Friday job. Lucky you to have your weekends free to go shopping.

Who mentioned banning anyone?

Just pointing out that if you (and this isnt just retired people) have the majority of your week free, then it makes sense to shop during the week, and not when the supermarkets are heaving at a weekend.

As opposed to what?

😂😂😂😂

I was a stay at home in the 90s for a while but we were skint and I did some casual work

Yes, this! My parents are baby boomers, my mum voted Leave, my dad voted Remain. Myself and DH (Gen X) voted Remain. My sister and BIL (millennials) voted Remain. My DSD (millennial) voted Leave.

It's all relative. Age doesn't really have any bearing on who and what you'll vote for. Where you live, how much wealth you have (or don't have) is what usually plays the biggest part in people's voting choices.