Boomers aren’t more hardworking than the rest of us, they were just born at the right time
When you account for housing, the average pensioner now earns more than someone of working age
It’s meant to be snowflake millennials who melt under criticism of extravagant avocado breakfasts and flights to southern Spain, while boomers had to make do with ice on the inside of the window, boiled mutton and coach trips to the Costa del Brexit. But few things offend more than pointing out to a baby boomer just how good they’ve had it, even to the detriment of their own children. It’s only natural to respond defensively to criticism, but the truth is a better starting point for policymaking than feelings.
When young people lament generationally high housing costs, the reflexive rebuke from boomers comes: “You should try living through the interest rates we did, sonny Jim!” That they experienced higher rates is, of course, historical fact. But it is historical fact without important context. Those rates were brief, momentary “spikes.” Rates did indeed rise above an eye-watering 15 per cent in 1981, but they did so for less than a single month, before rapidly coming back down, as soon as their disinflationary effect had manifested in the wider economy.
A short, sharp peak of one, perhaps two, years of painful mortgage payments? Try an unbroken run of not one, not two, but more than 20 years of the highest house price to earnings ratio since the Victorian era, with no end in sight! Be honest…
To read this full article on baby boomers’ reflexive responses to millennial housing cost woes, please visit i News using the link here: https://inews.co.uk/opinion/boomers-hardworking-rest-us-born-right-time-2599925