To say the £35k winter fuel threshold is way too high!

[chocolateismyweakness4]

The threshold needed to be raised, but £35k?! I wish I earned that and I have a mortgage and commuting costs. It also doesn’t take into account savings (so they could have millions in the bank) or household income.

We all know it’s a bribe, but they still won’t get pensioners to vote for them.

And those stats don't, at first glance, appear to take hours of work into consideration at all. The proportion of full time workers, not just working flexibly/v part time around the school day, has risen massively.

So half of mothers worked in the 1970s? So it wasn't rare before the 90s, as you are suggesting.

This is absolutely unfair

Look at point 2 of the executive summary. It won’t copy for some reason. Less than half women were working full time in 2017.

I'm so bored of hearing that boomers fought for us all so we should be grateful. I don't believe it frankly. You fought for your own better conditions which is fair enough, but it's not like it was selfless. And this generation continues to vote for better conditions for themselves to the detriment of other groups (who should vote but don't bother - which is their fault)

I don't know the actual figures but poor women have always, always worked. At home, in service, for cash in hand cleaning and domestic jobs. I was a teenager in the 70s and everyone's mother worked. Part time, term time sometimes but they worked, the minute they were able. Got the youngest off to school and went back to work.
Sometimes to help a household budget, sometimes for their own sanity. Boomer here and I don't know one single woman who hasn't returned to work after having children. Not one.
My mum was born in 1931. Went back to work the minute she was able. She's silent generation, as were her contemporaries. Workers all. Bet some of them never showed up in employment data though.

I just want to know at what point this government will start spending money on the under 66’s.

Looking after children? Looking after partners? Looking after granny? Being a student?

Saying more women with children work now is not the same as saying it was rare in the 60s, 70s, and 8Os which pp have suggested and which is simply not true.

Agree couples on £70k combined, potentially with savings and no mortgage or rent don’t need it.

There are plenty of other places that money could go to.

Whether you believe it or nor not is frankly irrelevant my dear, the facts are the facts. Conditions for working mothers are far better than they were in my day. Do you imagine employers and the government gave them away out of the goodness of their hearts?

And nowhere in my post did I employ the word grateful, that's from you.

If you’re over pension age it does. Pensioners can’t claim UC.

Perhaps when they start voting in the same numbers? For example, less than half of people aged 18-24 voted in 2024 compared to three quarters of people in the 65+ cohort.

Governments of all stripes court the 65+ vote for good reason!

"people who never worked or never worked full time"!!!

I was born in 1954 and my mum worked full time before she had me and then part time afterwards. She worked in the evenings so she could be home with me and my siblings all day and then dad would take over.

I worked full time from 16 to 61 and then part time until 66. All my aunts, cousins, sisters etc worked as did just about all the pensioners I know.

Maybe you should stop being bored and acknowledge what you have that the boomers you so detest didn’t and have bequeathed to you. These include the right to maternity leave and pay, the right to flexible working, widely available childcare, equal pay (in principle), the right not to be discriminated against or harassed in the workplace … Very few of us benefited from any of those apart from the last two.

The distorted view some younger women have of older women is shocking and saddening. And all on a site for women.

Very depressing.

Awful, isn’t it?

Many current pensioners retired in their 50s/60s and were able to claim their state pension from 60 or 65 years (obviously that age has now risen significantly for younger generations).
I see that you agree with me that many pensioners are not frail and incapable! I agree that many grandparents help with childcare and play an important role in communities. Of course, the majority of working parents still need to pay for some or 100% of their childcare (I think your particular circle is quite unusual). However, it's not relevant to the point that was being made initially, which was that pensioner's expenses are far lower than those of families. That is clearly factual and so the income level that has been chosen (up to 70k for a couple) is much too high. The great majority of these people are not in need at all and should not be receiving additional handouts. If they have suddenly discovered extra ££, there are so many better ways to spend it. Of course, that is not the case though, they are just trying to buy votes from a group who are unlikely to vote for them anyway!

It also doesn’t determine policy now, or shouldn’t. A cut off is based on need and couples on £70k don’t need it.

I think we’re living in a time where the vast majority of people are generally very unhappy. It’s easy to be envious of others when there seems little reward for your daily efforts.

That's why we need to bring in compulsory voting.

It’s a very good idea. I’d support that.

Not, that's not why they didn't work. It was because basics such as housing and food were affordable on one income for the majority of families. I was at school in the 1980s and, as per previous post, only one mother in the whole school had a full time job and hardly any of the others even did part time work.
I think we all know why men and women start work later now and let's not pretend that it is advantageous to them.
Once women were encouraged into the workplace under the guise of women's rights, the cost of everything rocketed, making basics unaffordable and forcing both partners to work. The older generations benefitted from the massive increase in asset prices, driving a financial wedge between the generations and causing some of the current problems.

Tbf I can see why someone struggling with childcare costs, mortgage / rent and heating on £70k or lower would think the policy’s not right.

At least you have conceded to the statistics!
I'm not sure exactly what the other posters said but it was certainly commonplace to take many years off work to raise children and to then work part time so all the hand wringing and 'they worked all their lives' is often inaccurate.