Stop blaming Pensioners

I don't find it upsetting shillyshally.
You can't really argue that better-off pensioners should get the extra cash!

Better to argue that it should be taxed back in my opinion.

Urmstongran

I thought the Winter Fuel Allowance had dropped back down again to £100 per person in a 2 person household? I believe the enhanced payment will be paid out automatically to those on pension credits etc.

Of course I stand to be corrected if I’m wrong!

I live alone. My winter fuel payment this year is £600 because I was born on or before 24th September 1943.
The £600 also includes extra money from the government to help with the cost of living. This extra money is known as the Pensioner Cost of living Payment. I am not in receipt of any benefits.

Not just male pensioners Jane43 I worked and paid NI for 51 years ALMOST 52 .with the age change to 67 I had 4 years more that weren't counted .We counted what I'd paid and lost and together it was @£52 OOO .I never took maternity leave or stayed at home with children ,I took mine to work with me,my daughter was just 8 days old when she was in her pram beside my desk .MY choice,we were self employed and if we didn't work we didn't eat .I have a friend who didn't pay NI ever but insists she WILL get a full State pension .I'm not sure that she will as they have private pensions but she wont believe me

Urms it’s £500 or £600 this year (per household) depending on date of birth. I’m 72 and will get £500.

It’s a misunderstanding by the young that pensioner not needing the pension credit are well off those on new style pension are a couple of pound over the criteria for pension credit and are worse off. Some like myself who have a very small private pension since the last increase now pay tax due to the freeze on increasing the tax allowance

Thank you Aldom and Georgesgran for clarification.

I hate to hear the insulting use of the the word “Boomers”. Do none of these critics have ageing parents?

Delila No they probably do not. These accusations are directed mainly against older pensioners 75+ - and th epeople making the accusations are young enough to be our grandchildren.

NotSpaghetti

I don't find it upsetting shillyshally.
You can't really argue that better-off pensioners should get the extra cash!

Better to argue that it should be taxed back in my opinion.

I quite agree, notspaghetti.

M0nica

Delila No they probably do not. These accusations are directed mainly against older pensioners 75+ - and th epeople making the accusations are young enough to be our grandchildren.

No, I think the MN crowd is 30-50 years old, not babies to teens. 'Boomers' is just like 'olds' - people born between certain years.

Yes, Norah, but it’s a derogatory term intended to imply we’ve had everything our own way and expect to carry on doing so.

Monica, in my experience young people love their grandparents and are caring towards them, unlikely to express the inter-generational envy we hear about these days.

When you compare pensions in the UK I don't feel at all guilty accepting the fuel payment. I get by because my mortgage is paid off. I have no idea how people manage if they have rent or a mortgage to pay.

Our pension is means tested and we don’t get a brass razoo from the government even though we are certainly not rich. I am surprised that the British pension isn’t means tested.

The British pension is a contributory pension nanna8, based on contributions made during a working life.

Well, I for one feel no guilt.

We all contribute here, too. Our money doesn't come back to us ,though .unless we are pretty poor.

I don't see boomer as a derogatory term. We were part of the baby boom post war. I am proud to be one.

I think it only fair that any available money is used for the good of all. We could manage without the winter fuel payment ( and free prescriptions, bus travel) and there are people who could really use the extra.

I would ditch the triple lock. I think our pension rises should be tied to what average wage rises are. I do not feel comfortable when we get fully compensated for inflation when other younger people do not.

At the moment average wage increases are substantial, but that has not always been the case.

nanna8 i think that is outrageous, your government forcing you to contribute to a state pension and then refusing to give you any of it back. To my mind that is state theft.

Wouldn't disagree kitty. Just wonder how the boundaries would be set. Who is a ‘better off’ pensioner? Using pension credit could cause real hardship for the very manny ‘just managing’ folk. Making winter fuel payments taxable would even things a little. Could there be a way to easily and cost effectively opt out for people who are clear they don’t need or want additional payments? I assumed folk who didn’t want a bus pass simply wouldn’t apply for or use one. It’s not mandatory. Personally I don’t think anyone should have to pay for a prescription. I don’t know what the answer is but it’s definitely too simplistic to blame folk receiving state pension. As for Boomers. Offence or not for me comes with the context and tone.

We help our GC financially, and support them in every other way because we love them dearly. I'm sure most on GN would say the same - they have done what they can, just as we did for our children. Perhaps those griping on Mumsnet don't have that support, and have grumpy selfish Grandparents, so feel they have nothing to be grateful to them for. That said, we have both paid staggering amounts in tax and NI during our long working lives, and if I took the time to work it out I'm sure we would need to live to be 100 to break even. For the record we have never had a penny in benefits either.

kittylester

I don't see boomer as a derogatory term. We were part of the baby boom post war. I am proud to be one.

I think it only fair that any available money is used for the good of all. We could manage without the winter fuel payment ( and free prescriptions, bus travel) and there are people who could really use the extra.

You may not see "boomer" as a derogatory term - but it's certainly used as a put-down.

There is a standard response from some of the younger generation when a comment is made on social media by a pensioner... "OK Boomer" - it is meant to be dismissive. Maybe you've not seen that?

I haven't seen ot heard "OK boomer" ever.
I haven't even seen "Boomer" used in an automatically derogatory way - though obviously have heard the word boomer used alongside Gen/generation X or whatever.

NotSpaghetti

I haven't seen ot heard "OK boomer" ever.
I haven't even seen "Boomer" used in an automatically derogatory way - though obviously have heard the word boomer used alongside Gen/generation X or whatever.

i.pinimg.com/originals/9b/fd/0d/9bfd0d2b189b918c80e05d21b667f4b4.jpg

I saw that post too and was surprised that there was so much misinformation by some of those posting. I was teaching when I became pregnant, so I had to resign my post at the end of the Autumn term as the baby was due in March.I had no family allowance for her until she was 12 as there was no family allowance for a one child until 1975 .
I think we had different expectations. I did not have a washing machine until my daughter was 3, and that was a second hand one, we bought nothing until we could afford it and holidays were spent at grandparents.Now younger families expect homes to have everything from the start.
There was no mention that the pension in this country is one of the lowest in Europe or that any of the mumsnet posters knew exactly how much a person received from the state pension.

Yesterday in whilst in my favourite coffee shop, I heard the two lovely young waitresses directing a couple of older customers to our community hub. They had heard them discussing when/whether to put the heating on and were concerned.
In real life real people all seem to want to help each other, that's what I find.
As for 'Boomers' I prefer to think of us as Bloomers because we do!