Dear Sirs,
I am APPALLED at the Sun type headline of ‘are the baby boomers to blame for all society’s ills?‘
The blatant ignorance promulgated in your headline and article ignores the whole truth but cherry picks the bits that suit your argument.
Affordable housing is difficult to obtain now yes but when my fiancee and I were SAVING for a deposit to buy a house we went without holidays abroad, smart cars, smart phones, eating out AND it was still difficult to obtain an affordable house, especially with an interest rate of between 15 – 18%, unlike today’s Younger Generation (YGs) who pay ~3%, expect holidays abroad, smart phones etc, smart cars and eating out on the food that is so much cheaper than it was when I was a child.
What was the population size then and now – perhaps that has something to do with the lack of housing as so many millions more people live in this Island and want houses.
As a woman I had little job security as children made working VERY difficult and child care, as is available now, was almost non-existent. YGs have credits now towards their pension, to compensate for having children and time off to look after them but BBs did not until later on.
Women were encouraged to rely on their husband’s National Insurance payments for their pensions so many do not have pensions that will support them in their old age.
Lifelong employment??? I have been made redundant with no payment, except the latest in 2011, THREE times so what price job security. BBs started work often at 15 – 16 years old unlike so many YGs now who expect to go to university, and start work at ~22, unlike the restrictions on entry for BBs.
Lowering wages – who lied to take Britain in to the Common Market, knowing the long term aim was political, and then let people from poorer countries into Britain who would accept much lower wages ?
Poverty for over one million children??? How many actually live in homes without heating, inside toilets and bathrooms – certainly not a million, so the politicians move the goal posts to suit their sound bites.
The influx of foreign investment buying houses from China, Russia, and the middle Eastern countries has contributed to the shortage of housing.
With the necessity to move around the country to secure employment who is going to look after the old people now that the NHS is steadily being dismantled and privatised?? The cost of care for the elderly is now so high as to be almost unaffordable and the care in the community is getting so expensive that people have to choose between care and heating.
Baby boomers (BBs) had a culture of saving and asset accumulation to help in their old age AND not getting into credit card debt with the constant spending.
What about Gordon Brown raiding the pension pots of the BBs to further his spending spree?
Without BBs volunteering and caring for the elderly would the NHS be totally overwhelmed?
What the BBs did benefit from was an excellent education and sense of community helping each other, which is now so diluted and the work ethic which was so strong, is now so weak. Perhaps if a work culture and taking personal responsibility for their actions instead of looking for who to blame, is encouraged and an education system that teaches and encourages money management, house keeping skills, vegetable growing on allotments, technical skills, including trades such as plumbing and electrics, as well as IT, and the world does not owe the YGs a living.
The key to prosperity is a good education and hard work, not whining about whose fault it is and telling the WHOLE truth and not only the bits that suit your argument.
Yours faithfully.
Elizabeth Dalton
