National Health Service & The Elderly
It is getting well up my nose that the large cohort of over 70’s is putting a strain on the countries resources. The National Health Service in the UK is supposedly under strain because of the elderly it now has to support. I hear this many times daily in political debates and arguments and the Sheep all seem to swallow it hook line and sinker.
I want to shout out to the uncomprehending younger generation who have now got their naive hands on the tiller of the Ship of State. This is the very same cohort that paid their dues in Tax and health contributions all through their working lives at a time when virtually all had full employment.
We paid into a state insurance scheme all our working lives so now comes the pay out! So where did the money go that we were assured care in our old age?
The elderly should not be seen as a liability but as a group deserving of gratitude for their past work and contributions.
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Nagger, I agree with you. We have the same problem here but a different health care system. We also have unfunded wars here which is where the money really goes plus we have a lot of money going to corporations and we have other issues.
it seems to be some sort of crime to age and collect the state pension that we have paid for at least we worked for it, I worked from the age of 14 as did many others of my generation, we did not go the dole, if we even had it then so I think we` re entitled to what we worked for
This is all very true the only time i did not work or contribute was a short gap when i first had my children, covering a span of 5 years .
from leaving school at age 14 and after my time off for child bearing and being a mother , a wife and general dogs body, ( but cheerfully ) i then went back to work full time as before and from the time time they allowed us women the choice of paying full or nominal nation health stamp, i opted to pay both full stamp and as i worked for local government firstly in a school then as a warden for the elderly i also paid Superanuation .
This was so i would be sure to have a decent pension when i retired. All told i did this for a total of 23 years.
Now they want to cut what little i do get towards my council tax . So in a nut shell let all those who enter this country and those young enough to work, do so. If any say their is no work let the government find them jobs like clearing up all the places they destroy ( Not personally ) maybe, but helping keep this country clean and free from vandals as much as possible, without themselves getting hurt. sorry not a good speller.
I have always been told that the contributions we made during OUR working lives was used by the government to to PAY pensioners who were already retired
And when we retired a similar situation applied
ie. OUR pensions are paid for by the contributions of those currently working
In other words The MONEY we paid in was never intended to pay for our pensions
But we accrued an entitlement based on the number of contributions we made
I always thought the governmet had no right to take which is already ours. Why do they think they do? Or am I naïve?
Having worked, every day of my life, from aged 14 to 74, never drawn unemployment or housing benefit, and having done ‘some service’,
I am just as offended that you or anyone could wish that I do not benefit from the health service, or pension earned now the time has come to enjoy some fruit. I also reared 4 children, who avoided taking drugs, spending time in jail, but contributing in their own ways, to the general well being of others. So Nagger, Do You Mean ME?
I think you have totally misunderstood my meaning
It is people like you that i am defending –the salt of Earth
There would not have been a national health service without us and our contemporaries
I think we are all trying to address a world problem, for simply we are living so much longer than our parents and grand parents used to do and this is causing all sorts of headaches for our ruling parties – Here in new Zealand they have finally put a stake in the ground and said that in a little over 20 years time the retirement age will be raised to 67 by which time there will be even more people reaching retirement age – it is an ever and on going- problem to which I have no answer.
Ohhhh a great highly debatable subject.
Having just retired aged 66 from working since the age if 16 apart from a few years 3 at the max when i had 2 children I have been tax payer.
Overnight I went from being highly successful territory manager to a pensioner…. some sort of lower class person. I sure as hell have worked for my pension as meagre as it is.
And while I am at it dont you hate being called Senior or pensioner or as the Waikato Hospital calls us aged persons. lol They have Dept called that.
What annoys me is folk who are accepted into NZ within few year are accepted into the system. How unfair is this … they have contributed nothing.
The needs to be staggered system of entitlement …. Govt need s to re look at how this works. They also get into the Hospital system. Husband two years ago attended Greenlane Hospital for an eye problem The waiting room was full of Indian/ Asian people many with interpreters. It was spot the maori or European Kiwi. My estimate was barely 10% of the folk being seen were in fact NZers who had been born here. Surely any new immigrants need to pay for private medical Insurance like many of us have had to.
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So my question is the the NZ Govt anyway Look who you accept into NZ and do further screening and risk analysis. Why are the NZ taxpayers paying for folk who have not and often are not contributing. Refugees fall into different category i accept that.
I am sure this is the case in many other Commonwealth countries.
And please someone …think of a better word to describe someone now no longer in the workforce.
lol Ok off my soap box Cheers Maree
Why label us in any way, I hate labels placed on people. Parents gave us names and the names should be used.
Well said Maree, You put it better than me -I bet you feel better for getting that off your chest – keep that soapbox handy! Kind regards Drummer
LOL Drummer ….no the subject will raise its ugly head with me again ..lol am in that period of adjustment you know how it is.
I shall look forward to more!
Perhaps that excellent group U3A have the right word for us. The third Age. I prefer that to ‘pensioner’. Lets face it, we, none of us, welcome ‘old age’ or aged, but by definition that is what we are. My great grandchildren have put me into another dimension of learning, fun and teaching me so much about the wonder of youth. On the other hand, we are so lucky to have made it to our senior years. The biggest brickbat to suffer is losing the one you love most. As younger people,, We thought it was forever, but forever didn’t last, and now what was forever, is hidden in our past!
Well put geejay
Sorry but those of you who do not like being called “Pensioners” or “Seniors”, what’s the problem? Surely to be a “Senior” is a term of respect, the reality of “Pensioner” is that is what you are. I had to retire early at 54 due to taking on being a 24/7 Carer for my wife therefore our income dropped dramatically but we cut our cloth to suit and I was always brought up with mother’s words drummed into me, “If you haven’t got the money in your pocket you cannot afford it and you don’t have it until you can afford it”, no borrowing, no use of Credit Card resulting in living within means. I lost my wife four year ago but now happily remarried and still doing exactly as we wish. Progress means healthier and longer living so there are more of us as a proportion of the population and this will continue to rise hence the plans, hopes, aspirations and promises of many years ago have long gone out of the window resulting in the goalposts having to be moved, be thankful we are still here and enjoy it to the full.
PS. In passing I am 82.
nobbut a young lad then
thanks
Geeljay has contributed to his State pension for 60 years: Bravo!.
If he had invested £1 with an interest rate of 5% on the day he started to contribute it would be worth £18.7 sixty years later. Repeat the calculation for every subsequent week and every pound that he contributed and you will arrive at a tidy sum. So, with all of his contributions he (and millions like him) has effectively lent money to the State at favourable terms that it would not get from a bank: Once paid to the State, that money became anonymous and might have been used buy a battleship or save a failing bank.
Common sense dictates that it should have been used to finance a pension fund that can earn money to pay for pensions and nothing else.
Now, when one he has the right to expect that the State should pay some interest on this accumulated capital in the form of a pension, it shifts the goal posts by extending the term of the loan (later retiring age) and putting the blame on the lender for living too long. Shame!
well put
Exactly the point i was trying to make
Thanks
I am fortunate in having a husband still healthy and more so than I am. My biggest problem of aging is chronic pain from sciatica and loss of energy overall. Some loneliness because we are both introverted and it’s not easy to seek out friends. I try to, by belonging to the Y and stuff. But I am liberal and we can all talk politics.
Not an unfamiliar story. Nancy get chatting girl !
Go for it.
live for the day !
All i know is i paid national Insurance stamp (full ) from the time it came into being in the uk, and, i also paid a superanuation or graduated pension working for our government in both my jobs . One being in a school as N T H for 10 years and then became a warden for the elderly for a further 10 years or just over. All told i worked for local government for 22 years in one form or another , and i paid tax on my earnings and now i am being taxed on it again as a pensioner, i prefer the title older generation. Why is it that we have to wait weeks for an opointment at the hospital and in some cases months yet others who have not been in this country all their lives get preferensual treatment. SORRY ABOUT SPELLING .
Hi Lace
My point was. we above any other generation. have paid our dues. so that our needs were covered. in advanced years. therefore should not be blamed for a strain on the NHS. or be held the cause of the deliberate underfunding that is happening at the moment for political purposes