More evidence of increasing wealth gap

mrginge

cells wrote: »

I still think the report is nonsense but even if you believe the sum total of the wealth of someone age 30 is lower now than a generation ago you have to accept that you are not comparing like with like.

Let's not make out that everything is fantastic now and was crap back then. There were clearly some areas that my generation had better.

Not paying 30k to go to university for one.
Having a more secure, long term employment environment for another.
Swings and roundabouts as always in these cases.

But yes, generally this report taken in isolation isn't much use, other than to pander to people who can't read beyond the headline.

Eric_the_half_a_bee

The children of the "Baby Boomer" generation, currently in their early 30s, have an average net household wealth of £27,000 each a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think tank showed.

By comparison the median wealth of those born in the 1970s had £53,000 on average by the same age.

I can believe that. Now how do you adjust for the fact that, apart from housing, the average 35 year old has a standard of living that was beyond the wildest dreams of their predecessors 40 years ago?

lewisa

Eric_the_half_a_bee wrote: »

I can believe that. Now how do you adjust for the fact that, apart from housing, the average 35 year old has a standard of living that was beyond the wildest dreams of their predecessors 40 years ago?

Apart from housing... and pension prospects.

And 3 pound a pint if yer lucky!

ukcarper

mrginge wrote: »

Let's not make out that everything is fantastic now and was crap back then. There were clearly some areas that my generation had better.

Not paying 30k to go to university for one.
Having a more secure, long term employment environment for another.
Swings and roundabouts as always in these cases.

But yes, generally this report taken in isolation isn't much use, other than to pander to people who can't read beyond the headline.

You just can't compare take the £30k university fees for the vast majority going to university didn't even enter thier head in fact they didn't even consider staying at school beyond the age of 16 or in a large proportion 15.

cells

mrginge wrote: »

Let's not make out that everything is fantastic now and was crap back then. There were clearly some areas that my generation had better.

Not paying 30k to go to university for one.
Having a more secure, long term employment environment for another.
Swings and roundabouts as always in these cases.

But yes, generally this report taken in isolation isn't much use, other than to pander to people who can't read beyond the headline.

Presumably people go to university for an education. Information education data is now far more available and far higher quality and often totally free

The kids of today have access to an education and learning experience not even comparable to the kids of yesteryear. So even on that count I would say today is much much better. Some of the worlds best universities have their full courses abd lectures availobls for free downloads


I honestly can't think of anything that was better a generation ago. People who think this generally are thinking back with confirmation bias.

ukcarper

lewisa wrote: »

Apart from housing... and pension prospects.

And 3 pound a pint if yer lucky!

I'd like to see some figure on the percentage of boomers benefiting from these better pensions. I'm fortunate and have a final salary pension but I keep in contact with half a dozen of my school friends and I'm the only one with a defined benefit pension.

ukcarper

cells wrote: »

Presumably people go to university for an education. Information education data is now far more available and far higher quality and often totally free

The kids of today have access to an education and learning experience not even comparable to the kids of yesteryear. So even on that count I would say today is much much better. Some of the worlds best universities have their full courses abd lectures availobls for free downloads


I honestly can't think of anything that was better a generation ago. People who think this generally are thinking back with confirmation bias.

I think that when I left school at the age of 16 my employment prospects were better than today.

lewisa

cells wrote: »

I honestly can't think of anything that was better a generation ago.

Music.

10char

cells

lewisa wrote: »

Apart from housing.

If housing was so affordable back then why wasn't property ownership close to 100%?

The highest ownership rate was reached in about 2005 a generation ago ownership levels were around what they are today indicating that they were not really more affordable.

Homes might have been cheaper but that does not mean they were more affordable if food and cloths and other essentials were more expensive (which they were) so the house wasn't affordable to you even if it was cheaper on paper

cells

ukcarper wrote: »

I think that when I left school at the age of 16 my employment prospects were better than today.

More seriously unemployment in the UK is about 1% and the full time male wage is in the order of £35k a year. Jobs and prospects in this country are good unless you are at the very bottom and there is no good reason to be at the bottom if you are healthy and have an average mind or better

Also there must have been poor condition low pay jobs of yesteryear. I used to work in a steel mill and the air was so bad I gladly took redundance when offered. People who complain or think stacking shelves working in asda is difficult should try working in a steel works for a month especially with the safety culture and practises of a generation ago let alone even contemplate the lives of the manual coal miner two generations ago.