Baby Boomers

We went over to Sheffield yesterday to visit my elder daughter and see the house she has just (bought) committed herself to a hefty mortgage for. A little over a quarter of a century ago, she was a babe in arms and I had been introduced to the novel concept of being responsible for this new being I had brought into the world.
Now, she is a mature, responsible, confident adult, fully in charge of her life and making 'doctor-speak' comments about my cholestol level and pre-arthritic ankles! It must be a result of my encouraging her to specialise in geriatric care so that she can look after me in my old age!
When I look at young people of her generation, they seem so confident and self-assured, much more so than I was. "Work hard, play hard" is the motto and, indeed in today's culture of working endless hours, they do have to grab the chance to relax when they can. Those who have degrees enter the world of work already committed to paying off their loans before they can even think about taking on mortgages for houses with ever increasing price tags and by the same token, bringing up a family has to be juggled with staying at work in order to pay the bills.
There is a reason for that lifting of the spirits when 60's music is playing! It reminds my generation of our youth - those heady days when going to university or college was possible without having to live at home to lessen the expense. Those of us who needed it, had grants -
not loans, so we were not saddled with huge debts as a result of getting a degree. When the time came to settle down, house prices were usually affordable. Starting a family was usually possible on one person's salary or wages, so mum could at least stay at home for the first few years - as I did, and, looking back, I feel very privileged to have been able to do so.
So do young people now have a better life? I can't help thinking that we were the lucky ones. We were able to enjoy being young without the financial burdens that our children shoulder today. But then, maybe it's a case of 'distance lending enchantment' and I am looking back through rose coloured spectacles. All I know is, pre-arthritic knees or not, I am glad I had my youth when I did!

3 comments:

gemmak said...

Ditto to that! My youth was in the early to mid 70's so barely different to yours and I certainly didn't feel the burdens that are placed on the youth of today. We could reasonably expect a college or university education that our parents could afford, a career, to own a house and to have children that we could stay at home and look after at least for a few years. On the down side I feel we also had an upringing that taught us we could 'have it all' and be in complete control of our destiny.....hence perhaps when our destiny turned out to be different to the one we had planned the fall is harder. The 'have it all' culture has alot to answer for but I like you am glad I had my youth when I did.

Sorry....forgot I was only supposed to be comenting! lol.

Snowbabies said...

I'm sure it must have been easier back then, Dad bought his bungalow with drive, garage and lovely garden back in 1973 for a sum that you could almost pay cash for these days. We'd love to buy something similar but with the way house prices have rocketed over the years, even with two wages instead of one, we'll be lucky to find anything like it that's affordable.

Paul

Roger B. said...

The fact that young people now allow themselves to be saddled with so much debt makes me both sad and angry. I feel that they've fallen for a massive con-trick. Worst still nobody seems to want to protest about it!

Plaster board and dust

So, we're still no further forward on the British Gas smart meter front and I've given up making non-existent appointments with them...