To think free bus passes for the old should be abolished?

[Bumpitybumper]

Statistics show that on average wealth peaks at age 65-74 in the UK, why then do we give these people free bus passes? It makes absolutely no sense at all and is just an unnecessary expense. The idea that 'young' pensioners are a relatively poor group of people is completely incorrect and it only serves to enhance the already massive intergenerational wealth gap between baby boomers and everyone else.

It's very unfair that some parts of England get it but not others

Yup, only free busses here in Lancashire for those who are over state retirement age. Certainly not as young as 60.

For those wanting pensioners to sell up and realise their assets have you thought about this?

Have you thought about how much it would cost to downsize? Estate agent fees, legal fees, stamp duty, removal costs? Then there's the stress of moving, people traipsing through your house, the ups and downs of selling your house and then getting the one you want. Packing it all up and then un-packing the other end and then all the unseen costs, appliances not working or if you move your own appliances they get damaged. It's daunting. I consider myself a young nearly 68 but I have nightmares about it.

You can't apply for a bus pass in my area until you are 66, I haven't done this yet but I will apply as it's a useful bit of ID. I haven't been out of the country in over 20 years and have kept a passport even though I didn't use it. I don't see the point now. I will only use my bus pass if my driving capability decreases . Although where I live the buses are once an hour - if you're lucky.

Edited to add the missing "in"

also OP, go post this on Gransnet, I dare you

Got news for you…..inheritance isn’t a given…..your parents can give what ever they like to whatever/whomever they like by will.
or going by what you said…….then any younger couple with kids who have a huge house, should be forced to sell it and pay for private education, etc….can’t have them sitting in a lovely big house whilst screwing over the state education funds can we.

On the flip side, using housing stock more efficiently would bring house prices down. Cheaper housing means working people can afford to spend more on things like bus passes for pensioners.
Reality is, there's so many pensioners relative to working people, we have to be realistic about what is affordable. There needs to be some give and take.

You're going to be furious about this, but in London you get it at 60 AND it covers tubes and trains too. Only after 9.30 though.

I don't think anyone under 30 should get any benefits. They haven't contributed anything to society yet.

There. Balanced things up a bit.

It simply means people in the aforementioned group. Try changing the ages mentioned and removing your own prejudice and see if it sounds prejudice. For example:

Statistics show that on average wealth peaks at age 35-44 in the UK, why then do we give these people free bus passes?

You are reading something into it that was never there.

We have discounts for students, pensioners, unemployed etc. Still pay but less than working people. I do think things should eb affordable but I don't think things needs to be free.

Because “these people” compounds your clear ageism.

Well if that's the case then we will have to stop everyone that hasn't contributed enough to claiming benefits. That would leave a whole lot of people of all ages (including an awful lot of pensioners) unable to claim benefits and of course the state pension. This is the issue. A policy has to be consistent and fair.

People over 65 are entitled to a free bus pass when others aren't. There isn't any logic really why this group are more in need of one. Eye sight failing etc is relevant to the over 75s but not so much the over 65s.

OP you haven't commented on the posts that have highlighted the increase in poverty in pensioners

What clear ageism? The fact I don't think 65-74 year olds should be entitled to a free bus pass? Is anyone allowed to have an opinion on a policy that impacts an age group in our society without being ageist? The two child benefit cap, child benefit thresholds and income tax are all policies that disproportionately impact certain age groups in our society. Is it ageist to discuss change with them too?

Well they don't all use the bus service so no harm done.
It's a massive help for my parents who are in there 80s and my Dad no longer fit or safe enough to drive.

I kind of agree but think we need to reframe it: everyone should have access to reliable, cheap or free public transport. We need to prioritise public transport and get cars off the road. We also need more cycle lanes- but that's another story. So I would say, tax the super rich and make public transport cheap or even free for everyone. But that won't happen...

I shared a graph that shows despite this increase that the rate of poverty in the UK amongst pensioners is the same as amongst working adults without children. It is significantly lower than the rate of poverty amongst working adults with children.

Again I ask, why prioritise this group (specifically 65-74) for free bus passes? I'm not talking about the over 75s but specifically this group

It currently costs England alone £700 million for concessionary travel (the disabled and state pensioners). We aren't a country with enough money to afford to pay more for this. Servicing our national debt each year is currently costing us 2/3rds of the NHS budget or the whole of the education budget. We need to get wise about where we are spending the money we have.

Nail on the head. We're rapidly approaching end game now that debt is close to/over annual GDP. We simply can't keep affording to give benefits to people who don't need them. Something has to give. Paying tax/NIC all your life isn't some kind of savings scheme. Personally I think the entire "welfare state" has gone too far, too many people thinking "cradle to the grave" (which was never actually promised). We have to roll back and start insisting on personal responsibility wherever possible, in terms of finances, health, social care, etc. That probably means means-tested of ALL forms of benefits, perhaps even to state pensions, maybe even to aspects of the NHS.

27% of pensioners in the UK live in households with a wealth of over £1,000,000, so it would be great to see this means tested.

Whatever your views on this are, I think we can all accept that there's not a chance in hell free bus passes for older people are going to be cut while the government is still bearing the bruises from cutting the winter fuel payment.

Because the old are always 'the wealthiest group' for the simple reason they've had 50 years work to save up and to pay for their houses. That does not mean they are rich or have enough to live on.

The bus pass, like the winter fuel allowance should be means tested.

Much of the wealth will be tied up in their house. People are entitled to live in the house they want whether young bitter people think it's appropriate or not.

People can't help getting old.
They can however choose whether or not to have children. Let's do away with child benefit and nursery funding. After all, you choose to have children, fund them yourself. Plenty of child free people are having to subsidise other people's children. I mean, we grudge the existence of old people need state help. let's grudge the existence of children as well.

If bus passes for older people are stopped it’s unlikely they will be reinstated so OP and their supporters will also miss out. They might not mind as they will be working until they die so wouldn’t become eligible in most of the country.
However, the bus companies might well be stopping some (especially rural) routes completely so fewer buses and fewer bus driving jobs.

Because unlike every other group, pensioners cannot improve their circumstances by working, now or in the future.

What they have has to last them until they die, and given the cost of care, that is a nightmare to predict.

The old certainly aren't always the wealthiest. This wasn't the case in the past and in fact still isn't true in this country when you look at those over 75. This generation of 65-74 year olds have benefited from a unique set of circumstances including excellent asset appreciation, good economic growth over the majority of their lifetimes and relatively good pension schemes. Future generations will not be so lucky and it is totally possible that the free bus pass will be needed at the age of 65 in the future. Right now though, it is hard to justify it when you look at the wealth distribution in this country.