General Chat

Lots of aged people now needing 24 hr care,some were never in a position to save,,,those now 80+ these are the ones who maybe fought in ww2.came out to work in the backbone of then this country Industry,,,brought a family up ,living in rented accommadation ie council house all their lives, with no chance of ever owning their own home.........what chance did they have to save to old age,,,?
I know lots who just lived from one weekly wage to the other waiting for Friday paydayto pay the tally man,pay for last weeks groceries to then start the process the next week,
and that has been the norm for all their lives.

Its a two way process.

That's my point, more or less, Kay.

If you can pay then you should pay. Only those who cannot afford it should be funded by the tax payers.

Gwynne (off to lunch)

I'm divided.

My father & his brother led parallel lives, both married & had 3 children, and both worked more or less all ther lives in a print works.

The only difference was Dads brother lived in a council house, where as Mum & Dad bought their own.

Roll on 80 years ( they are both Octogenarians now), both need a little help on a person care level.

They each have carer one day a week to assist in showering .

Dad has to pay, Uncle doesn't. Come the day either of them need full time care, the same will apply.

How come thats fair?

I'm happy with those paying who can and the government paying for those who can't. I've payed tax and NI since I started work and have never been unemployed so no gaps plus an enormous amount of tax paid via smoking. I don't have children, haven't had to use the NHS very much and so on, so haven't cost the state much. But I've no pension at all and have never had enough spare money to have any savings plus I rent so have no property or anything so when it comes to retirement and any necessary care later on, I will be stymied. Not because I'm lazy or have been a sponger but because I'm not good at planning for the future and have always earned a fairly low wage. I may inherit something from my parents or I may not - depends on what their needs are in the future.

My great aunt was not well off and rented a flat but inherited about £100,000 when she was 83 and a widow with no children. When she became unable to care for herself our family found a home for her and she's still alive at 99. If the state had funded her care initially, the money would be sat in the bank and we would have inherited it when she died - why should we? Much better that she has a decent quality of care and that her money pays for it - paid for it I should say as I imagine it's now run out and the state has taken up the slack.