Bishop Bashes Boomers

grizzly1911

DaddyBear wrote: »

Exactly. Anyone under 50 is being switched to the new scheme, yet those over 50 are exempt. Why? They are still 15 years from retirement.

I guess there has to be a cut off somewhere but I don't see why a blended formula couldn't be applied going forward.

DaddyBear

roddydogs wrote: »

Yes but we didnt have computers, mobiles, flat screens, holidays abroad till much later in life than the moaners, and everything was much dearer in real terms than now (except houses) 23" colour tv in 1975=£230, 4 channels, no remote, (about 5 weeks average wage then) washing m/c about the same, cars, holidays abroad, clothes were much dearer in real terms then, oh and also life expectancy is now longer. Would you REALLY swap places.?

Yes. A thousand times. The fact that a couple of electrical items that I would purchase every 10 years are more expensive is a poor argument, and foreign holidays were a common British staple in the 80's. I'd love the cheap houses, decent wage inflation, cheap fuel, cheap energy, more relaxed pace of life and the fact that the world isn't run by bankers.

MacMickster

vivatifosi wrote: »

Exactly! How quickly they forgot Bradley Stoke, the town that was nicknamed Sadly Broke as everyone there was in neg eq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/6227609.stm

I remember Sadly Broke well. House prices halved in a very short period following a boom where it was considered that prices only ever went up.

People seem to forget that the Boomers are those born between 1946 and 1964. Few of them have reached retirement age yet, (so perhaps the bishop wasn't really talking about boomers after all) and many of those approaching it may do so with some trepidation. The future of both their state and private pension entitlements are in the air, but they have little time to make other plans.

Like most generations, the boomers saw many improvements, but also faced many challenges. The cold war, the strike-ridden days of the 1970s, the loss of many traditional industries and mass unemployment in the 80s (watch Boys From The Black Stuff if you get a chance). As many busts as booms.

DaddyBear

wotsthat wrote: »

I expect it's that the shrill baby boomer bashers have a better standard of living than the boomers themselves but are maybe lacking some self-awareness.

I depends how you define your standard of living. I assure you that had I been born 30 years earlier and was in the same job, I would have a much better standard of living. Larger house, an annual foreign holiday or 2, more choice of places to work, less traffic...... Yes I wouldn't have a flat screen, laptop or mobile phone, but I don't hold such materialistic items in high regard, and I quite enjoyed only having 4 TV channels.

ukcarper

DaddyBear wrote: »

Exactly. Anyone under 50 is being switched to the new scheme, yet those over 50 are exempt. Why? They are still 15 years from retirement.

How many people does this apply to the majority of boomers are not public servants.

ukcarper

As house prices compared to wages were at there lowest for most of the 90s when in parts of the 70s and 80s they almost as high as they are now why is it always the boomers that are accused of benefiting from low house prices.

wotsthat

DaddyBear wrote: »

I depends how you define your standard of living. I assure you that had I been born 30 years earlier and was in the same job, I would have a much better standard of living. Larger house, an annual foreign holiday or 2, more choice of places to work, less traffic...... Yes I wouldn't have a flat screen, laptop or mobile phone, but I don't hold such materialistic items in high regard, and I quite enjoyed only having 4 TV channels.

You can define it lots of ways. To be honest I wasn't really thinking about consumer items.

Take someone Percy's age who was born in the worst year to be born in since the start of time (1983) and compare them to someone born in 1953.

1983 'Percy' was more socially mobile, had access to better education, more likely to go to university, better access to healthcare, will have a longer lifespan, has a better state safety net, more likely to own his own home, will more likely own a car, have more money etc. etc.

I take your point about transporting yourself back in time 30 years taking the same job and being able to buy a bigger house and enjoy the traffic free roads but that's not how it works. How do you know you would've had the same opportunities - you probably wouldn't - the reason the roads would be traffic free was because less people could afford to own cars - people were financially worse off.

Only well off people took foreign holidays didn't they - it was never the norm. I remember as a teenager in the eighties that, at my school anyway, if you got a week in a caravan in Skegness you were doing alright. Only a tiny percentage went on foreign holidays.

Some people look back with nostalgia for a time they never experienced and which never existed.

Percy1983

I will say if I was born 20-30 years earlier I would be much better off in my profession, yes I wouldn't have a blu-ray player and 3D TV, but I could have a colour TV and a VCR, the best at the time in other words which would in relative terms cost me more than my current setup.

Out of interest I don't think 1983 is the worse year to be born but it was the turning point. I say this as by the time I was 18 it was the year 2001, house prices had already started ramping and where out of reach and all I could do for many years to follow was watch them get further out of reach.

roddydogs

Road were "Traffic Free" in the 70s/8os, could have fooled me!

CLAPTON

Percy1983 wrote: »

I will say if I was born 20-30 years earlier I would be much better off in my profession, yes I wouldn't have a blu-ray player and 3D TV, but I could have a colour TV and a VCR, the best at the time in other words which would in relative terms cost me more than my current setup.

Out of interest I don't think 1983 is the worse year to be born but it was the turning point. I say this as by the time I was 18 it was the year 2001, house prices had already started ramping and where out of reach and all I could do for many years to follow was watch them get further out of reach.

1983 was the worse year to be born??

it's likely that you grew up in a house with
-central heating
-double glazing
-running hot water
-a car
-fully carpeted
-easy access to Uni
-good job prospects
-highest level of home ownership in history


how is that worse than the 1950s?