Depressed

Yes, we had free university education but only between 5% -10% were actually allowed to go. They were the brightest of the brightest and even then it was not guaranteed that a graduate would have a well paid "graduate job". Only 20% went to grammar schools . The rest went to Secondary Modern schools and out to work at 15. Now its 50% in university and almost anyone can go if they want to pay for themselves.

Lots of myths and falsehoods around.

That is true Anya and it is true, isn't it that each generation breeds the next, so that the world we now live in is the one we (the older generation) helped our children to grow up in. "When we were young" and "In my day" are all things the older generation love to talk about, and indeed we did all work hard because there was no alternative, we cannot blame the young people of today for taking advantage of what we have made available for them, including free speech and I think on the whole they have far more knowledge of the world than we did at their age.

oh Anya I cant get that song out of my head now! for those who dont know Mike and the Mechanics sang Every Generation)

'Every generation blames the one before'

never heard of any blame being put on the baby boomers! We didnt have it easy we had to work hard for what we wanted!
At the end of the day it doesnt matter who or who not is to blame, time to move on and hope for a better future for our kids, its going to take a couple of years for things to pan out and to know the ourcome.

We were the last generation before the consumerism boom when suddenly it was 'I need it now and it has to be new'. These are the first children who were bombarded with adverts from an early age. They grew up with different expectations about what they could/should own or how often/types of holidays.

Try not to be depressed. The young have always criticised the old and vice versa. This is just the latest example.

Totally agree sunseeker. We had a major struggle to pay the mortgage at times with those very high interest rates. Work was often far from secure. I think the real difference is that we didn't expect so much, I hoped to achieve the very moderate lifestyle of older people around me (working class who believed in saving for the future) but I didn't expect to have it until I had worked, raised my family and saved for whatever the future brought. When I listen to younger people now I hear a very different attitude, thinking has changed, evolved and expectations are different. Of course we want our children to have a better life than we did, current housing costs are astronomical, life is difficult for many - but it always has been. The outcome of the referendum is a worry for many people, but to accuse older people of sabotaging the future is so inaccurate I find it hard to take it seriously, I worry for younger people but I do not take their accusations into my self. humbug, please try to move away from the sense of blame, not all younger people blame us, many are highlighting those who simply didn't vote. I hope you feel less weighed down soon.

Very good points

Don't forget when we bought our houses interest rates were around 15%, salaries were very low and it was equally a struggle to meet the mortgage repayments. Many "boomers" help their children with house deposits or rent, free childcare etc. at a time when the interest rate on our small savings is very low with the threat it will drop even lower. Like you we worked hard all our lives - my late DH would do a day's work - 7.30 - 6.00, come home have a meal and then go back out to work a further 3 hours. Holidays, if taken, were usually a week in a caravan in Cornwall. It was fairly unusual for people to go to university (at least in my circle), but of course we had it easy.