45% of working age people not saving toward a pension at all

[FernFaery]

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/may/19/britons-not-saving-enough-retire-pensions-commission

Another looming crisis!

You conveniently forgot to mention that research of the time and since, highlighted that the heavy use of leaded petrol in the mid-20th century exposed millions of children to neurotoxins linked to behavioural and impulse-control issues. As lead was phased out in the 1970s, it led to lower delinquency rates by roughly two decades later.

Another major factor is that the legalisation of abortion in the 1970s resulted in fewer unwanted births and children raised in unstable environments, significantly reducing the numbers of ‘at risk’ youth by the 1990s And the 980’s and 90’s saw a massive increase in the size of police forces and stricter laws leading to more crimes attracting jail time, which removed high rate offenders from the streets.

👏👏

It’s not true anyway.

What are ‘early pensioners’ please ? You can’t, and never have been able to claim state pension until you reach the prescribed age.

Thick or just ignorant?

Young people have not always been poorer. In the 80s young people on average were more likely to own a home than over 55s. No coincidence that the young people then were BOOMERS (a common thread that runs) and the old people were ww2 veterans and their spouses, largely empoverished and deserving of the elderly discounts they never received but their bratty children did (Winter Fuel Allowance, Triple Lock, Free bus passes)

In 2000 over 55s owned 55% of the GDP and now is closer to 80%. Likewise for under 35s it was once closer to 40% of the GDP now closer to 10%.

FWIW I am 35 with two kids not some stroppy teenager. The "young" milennials now include the borderline middle aged with families.

Rich people taking our their private pensions before state pension age.

No they both went through the war as children. I wasn't a teenage pregnancy baby. My parents were married when they had me but they had three of us when my mum was 22 and my dad was 23.

No, but there are ever increasing numbers of people either taking early retirement from occupational pension schemes (or personal pension plans) or simply opting out of work and living on savings (or inheritances or a partner) for the intervening years until state pension age.

By "opting out", they're not paying income tax/NIC on wages, and not contributing to the economy via work productivity etc thus contributing to the stagnant/falling GDP. In the case of certain professions/occupations such as within the NHS there is the knock on effect of causing staff shortages and thus delaying services, i.e. increasing NHS waiting lists etc., which in turn means more people unable to work etc.

Aye, so they are silent generation, not boomers.

Define "rich"? Lots of pretty normal people take early retirement from private pensions, occupational pensions or public sector pensions. It's certainly not the preserve of the "rich" when people such as police, firemen, nurses, council bin-men, teachers, etc retire many years before state pension age.

I don't think that at all. I make decisions about major financial choices based on what I think are likely to achieve the best result for the people I want to benefit from my work. I prefer to decide that myself, rather than leaving the decisions to politicians.

I think my DC is going to have to work for another 40 years to get to pension age. Quite relaxed about that demand; we worked all those years too. But right now, we have enough in the pot to pay for a secure home. So that is what we are doing.

If you can afford to stop working, you’re rich.

DH and I are not rich. We have been self employed for 35 years. During those 35 years, nobody has put a penny in my pension, except me. Neither of us has had sick pay, even during the months of recovery after DH's heart attack. My maternity leave was six weeks, at IIRC about £90 pw. Every single pound we have accumulated over 35 years of work has been earned. I have very very carefully created a pension fund, within all the rules, and now the Chancellor is proposing to scalp it.

We're 70 if that helps, and still working.

Silent generation. They had integrity.

Completely different to current retirees of whom the vast majority are Boomers and did not live through the second world war and instead lived through the longest period of prosperity and peace that any generation has experienced to date.

I really don't care. I am looking after my kid. Your child is your responsibility. Frankly, I want my DC to have a secure home that no one can take away. DC has skills and talents that will provide a living but perhaps not enough to pay rent too.

This venom towards boomers would be hilarious if it wasn’t so pathetic!

That's a bit snide. My grandparents were the silent generation, born in the 1910-20. My in laws were born in 1929 and 1930. My DM was born in 1935. They are all dead now, except my dad who is 92 and does not remember anything about his first family. I'm his oldest child, and he thinks I'm his younger sister. But he also thinks his wife of almost 50 years is his daughter. Dementia is very cruel.

I’m so sorry to hear this.

However, I’m not sure what it has to do with what I said, or how it makes my comment “snide”.

Your grandparents were Greatest generation as were my parents. We’re roughly the same age and your grandparents were born in the same era as my parents.

Apologies, @DrRylandGrace. Poorly judged, and a badly worded comment. You have not said anything I disagree with. But you are right: dementia is horrible.

What has been notable is that despite the multiple personal attacks that have taken place (not directed at @Papyrophile , just to be clear, because that was the last comment I responded to I’m sure some are so hard of thinking they’d assume I was referring to this poster and I am not, as her comment was perfectly reasonable I just don’t understand the relevance to what I’d said so have queried this, but this was not a personal attack from her at all) NOT ONE of the posters making the personal attacks calling me “psychotic” or “spiteful” or whatever else has actually bothered to respond at all to my post earlier this afternoon at 13:40 (a detailed explanation of what steps I’d take most immediately to address the UK’s economic issues, as was demanded) let alone put forward an alternative explaining how they’d fix the problems in the UK economy and put forward an alternative prospectus of economic policies that they believe would mean that productivity and living standards would rise.

It seems that there is little interest at all in even discussing proposed solutions, only insulting and disparaging people even if they are complete strangers on the internet and making up things to try to discredit them: no engagement whatsoever with any kind of economic discussion about ways to improve things. Very depressing, and precisely why the UK economy is screwed.

It is the worst illness of all in my opinion. It robs someone of themself and all of their memories.

What a nasty, spiteful post, full of sweeping generalisations.

I dont care about your parents 🤷‍♀️