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Jeremy Paxman advocates people over 65 should not be able to vote


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What makes you say the over 65s have lost touch with the realities facing the younger generations?

 

Bit of a generalisation isn't it? Based on what evidence?

 

Seriously, I'd like to know what's led you to that conclusion, so we could discuss it.

He/she is looking for the 5 pound argument ;)

Edited by Groose
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The ones who bang on about owning flat screen TVs or mobile phones as evidence of how rich young people are compared to their own day is generally a good indicator.

 

Or go on about young people spending all their money drinking and smoking (both activities have been in decline in young adults/youth since 1997) but rising in the older generations...

 

Or talking about how they had it tough when interest rates reached 15% for a short period in the 80s when they had a 2x their salary mortgage but see housing that now costs the younger generation about 8x their annual salary (if they're lucky enough to be able to afford the deposit) as great because it's their pension/something to leave to their 60 year old 'kids' when they die...

 

Or just listen to LBC for a week. That'll do the trick.

 

Thankyou for trying to answer the question. It's appreciated.

 

I think young people have a lot to complain about actually. I am also appalled by the way social mobility has gone into reverse. Having to pay for a fortune for higher education for a start, but instead of wasting energy begrudging the older generation (would you have turned it down?) fight the government to get it reinstated. They'll make every excuse under the sun and blame everyone but themselves, but they have to invest in the next generation for the benefit of the country. Is there any excuse for us having the most expensive education in almost the entire world?

 

I also agree that house / rent prices are a problem for young people, but I don't know how it came about, or what individuals can actually do about it. Rampant house inflation was also a feature of the 70s when I was buying my first house. All we could afford was a tatty doer upper, and we spent the first 5 years with no central heating, all second hand furniture and no upstairs carpets, (also no kids, no going out and no holidays.)

I can only assume it is a case of supply and demand and a shortage of houses, so building more affordable housing and more social housing would seem to be a solution. A lot of the problems could have been better helped with rent controls and restrictions on buy to let, but that is again in the domain of the government.

 

The gap betweeen rich and poor worries me as much as it does you, and I'm often banging on about working conditions and workers rights which have been steadily eroded over the years. I'm also always banging on about the value of joining a Trade Unions but it seems to fall on deaf ears. As well as eroding rights the government is also trying to sow division and it's working isn't it? Blame each other, but not the government....

 

Generally speaking, the expectations of young people today seem to be far in excess of anything we had in mind, so yes, they will be disappointed.

Edited by Groose
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When you pop your clogs your 'kids' are statistically likely to be in their late 60s and therefore no longer kids but probably grandparents themselves. If they're actually any age under 35 right now then they'll almost certainly have gone through almost their entire adult lives having to pay a premium we never had to just for the cost of housing alone that will dwarf whatever you manage to leave to them (split how many ways?) ...assuming the Government haven't made you pay for your own social care using your 'nest egg', as is increasingly the case.

 

Please stop fooling yourself that your family will inherit your dynastic fortune. It will not happen. Inheritance only benefits those who are already fabulously wealthy, the rest of us get a pittance at best.

 

Your family and mine will be the ones who have spent their entire working lives paying off the mortgages of their landlords, paying off the cost + interest of getting the higher education they hoped would lead to the well-paid job they need to escape the rent-trap and of course the cost of having kids, plus the likelyhood of paying for the parts of healthcare that will almost certainly no longer be covered by the NHS in their lifetime but will be additional private costs. Oh and we're about to make a million of them unemployed thanks to a Brexit they didn't want either... I'm sure that'll help too.

Your post that I replied to was saying that when our kids are old they'll be worse off than me...I don't think they will be ..

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UK Pays worst State Pension in developed world

 

This is according to the OECD, (Organisation for Economic Development) as a percentage of the average wage.

 

Netherlands comes top, paying 100% of average wage, France pays 74% Germany pays 50% while USA pays 49%.

The average of the 25 countries in the survey was 62.9%

 

We come bottom, lower even than Chile and Mexico, at 29%.

 

Don't believe all you read about pensioners being well off, or never having had it so good...

Edited by Anna B
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UK Pays worst State Pension in developed world..

 

But there are different levels of state pension, and what freebies do the pensioners get.

 

If you are an older person on a low income, you may be able to claim a means-tested benefit called Pension Credit. Depending on your income, you may also be entitled to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction

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What do you mean by housing units for older people,coffins i assume based on your disdain for the elderly.

 

Warm places. Smaller. Cheaper. Accessible. Supported if needed. Convenient locations near services.

 

No disdain here, just a desire to give everybody the opportunity to live in reasonably priced housing.

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