funduffer wrote:I have read this discussion with interest, but one aspect that has not been mentioned is inter-generational inequality.
When I left university, I had no money, but also no debt. I got a job that paid a decent salary and pension, and could afford to buy a house within 2 years of starting work, at the age of 24.
My children are much less fortunate. They have debt, less secure jobs, poorer pensions and could not buy houses until well into their 30's - and that is in the North, not London/SE.
Us Baby boomers need to recognise that our children generally have the same aspirations as we did but will look at us and see we have the housing, the pension income,the wealth stashed away and yet we have an increased dependency on public services like the NHS.
Surely they will vote for someone who seeks to re-dress the balance, and whichever party they are are likely to get elected as the Baby Boomers start dying off. A few things that back this up:
Labour had a majority of voters under 45 at the last election.
Conservative members average age is....very high (numbers seem to be in dispute!).
Time will tip the balance.
We (us Baby Boomers) should expect increased taxes on our wealth. The best we can hope for is that it is done in a gradual way that does not de-stabilise the country.
Personally, I expect to pay more tax over the next 20 years (if I live that long) in some form or another. I am not unsympathetic to this, as I would like to see things improve for the younger generations in this country.
FD
Good point Funduffer.
The biggest intergenerational unfairness is the rigging of planning laws to prevent housebuilding, and resulting in artificially boosted houseprices.
This means that younger people spend a disproportionate share of their income getting onto the property ladder, and significantly reduces their standard of living.
All this so that older people 'who have' can feel wealthier, and retain the green belt so that we can subsidise more farmers.
Being the owner of a large family house, I benefit from this. That doesn't stop me realising that this is unfair, economically damaging, and likely to lead to social instability (aka P.M. Corbyn)