Elly Foster: Our 'Generation Game' issues are really serious

There are two groups discussed in the media as problematic. They are the older people, so-called Baby Boomers, and the young people with the horrible NEET acronym. The argument is that Baby Boomers use too much health and social care while NEETs are regarded as snowflakes who have unnecessary mental health problems, are addicted to social media and, well, they should just get off their backsides and work.

I like to challenge such generalised statements. I’m a late Baby Boomer according to the definitions of generations. My cohort of pensioners may live longer but research shows that many suffer long-term illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, heart and lung diseases. We’re apparently in poorer health than our parents’ generation. To top it all, we’ve brought up generation X, who are equally as ill-prepared for healthy longevity as we are.

The implications are clear: according to most politicians and economists healthcare and social care are unaffordable. But I think their calculations and conclusions are misleading. Andy Burnham’s Government has decided to cut the ‘Triple Lock’ and spend supposed savings on social care instead, only in England mind you. So pensioners in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will lose out financially in order to keep Mr Smith in Rochdale out of hospital.

I now ask if the Welsh Government will use ‘consequential funding’ to create a Social Care Service in Wales because social care in west Wales is seriously deficient. Take the proposed closures of beds in community hospitals in Powys which are ideal for helping elderly frail people to get onto their feet before returning home after surgery or a fall. Powys is merely copying Ceredigion where Tregaron and Aberaeron community hospitals have disappeared already.

Caring in people’s own homes is terrific. I’ve done it, drove from one client to another, stayed the night at times, did their shopping, cooking, washing, washed my clients too, cleaned their homes, all for a pitiful income that just about covered the cost of running my car. One major benefit was, I adored my clients, learned a lot from them and had amazing conversations about their lives in the Second World War.

I was working for a small private agency in a built-up area of the south east. Can this system operate efficiently in rural west Wales? Not all people are suited to be cared for at home either, yet our local care homes have closed too, despite much opposition. Family members frequently have long journeys to see their loved ones. I know carers in their 80s, unpaid, who often need carers themselves; that’s care on the cheap.

We’re talking about a generation of people who by and large hate asking for help, through obstinacy or pride, but who also believe that, having worked all their lives, deserve their pension. Most older pensioners aren’t on the new state pension; they receive roughly £10k a year. Try living on that! They might be entitled to Pension Credit but their pride stops them applying. And by-the-way, richer pensioners do pay tax.

Many younger Baby Boomers care for their very elderly parents and frequently help their children out by looking after grandchildren. Caring responsibilities are a major cause of stress, worsening existing ill-health.

Ask young people about stress and they’ll offer different reasons. Those who disparagingly are called NEETs or snowflakes don’t need bad press but help. I’m aware of young people being tracked by their parents. They’ve never been allowed to take risks, not had the freedom to make mistakes.

Baby Boomers have been lucky in some ways but also had many difficulties to overcome. Women especially had to fight for equality, juggled family responsibilities and work. Buying a house in our twenties is pure fantasy.

I have a lot of young friends. Most of them are well-balanced and hard-working, in school, university and in employment. NEETs or not, many still have the constant fear of failure, of not fitting in, not being good enough, not knowing who or what they are, certainly not helped by notions foisted upon them by social media.

For many young people the jobs simply don’t exist. It’s not that things don’t need doing; it’s our society, we the tax payers, who are unwilling to pay. Hence our hospital waiting lists are too long, our carers still earn pathetic wages, our environment doesn’t get protected and our public transport is inadequate. There’s so much that needs doing but councils and governments all cry, ‘We have no money!’

Governments should spend money where it’s needed most, supporting the poorest, the disabled, the frail elderly, plus the rejected and dejected young. I learned a lot from talking to my elderly clients. So let’s create understanding, not some artificial competition between generations. There are people who clearly have plenty of everything yet still unashamedly clammer for higher wages. My plea to the Labour Government: tax them more.