Having Grown Tired of Boomer Bashing, Dick Stroud Fights Back

A recent editorial in the UK's Financial Times was drafted in the form of a mock letter from a Gen-Xer to his baby boomer parents. It read (excerpted):

Dear Mum and Dad,

If you've been reading the papers this week you might have noticed a thought-provoking finding. Apparently, nearly half of all young Brits are now relying on their families for help with scraping together the money for a deposit on a house, up from 10 per cent in 1995. That sounds about right.

To my generation, the property listings are a bit like a celebrity gossip magazine; exciting but utterly unattainable.

You'd think that the wealthy baby boomers would be paying high taxes to provide all that healthcare, but a lot of it seems to be funded by issuing debt instead. I wonder who will deal with the repayments.

Anyway, I'm writing to congratulate you on Dad's generous early retirement package. I know he'll be wondering what to do with himself all day, but I'm sure the final salary pension will stretch to a few luxury cruises. The final salary scheme at my employer closed before I was hired, but once I've put together the deposit for a bedsit, I'll try to save for my own pension - if the mortgage repayments allow that.

Thanks!

I did want to ask something, though. The old saying is that rather than inheriting the planet from our ancestors, each generation borrows it from their children. If that's true, could I please see some collateral on the loan?

Yours affectionately, Junior

In response, Dick Stroud, who is the founder of 20plus30, a marketing strategy consultancy specializing in the 50 plus market penned this "letter" back (excerpted):

Dear Junior

Nice to know that you are back from your second gap year travels. The photos of Sydney and New York looked fantastic, although we are worried to see that you haven’t kicked your binge drinking habit. It would be nice to think that one day we might visit these places, rather than gazing at photos attached to the occasional e-mail asking for another few quid to keep you partying.

Your mum and I were reminiscing about the “gap week” we had between leaving school at sixteen and starting work. It seems strange to think that only 6% of us then went into higher education, unlike 43% of today’s school leavers.

Those were the days - 2 weeks holiday a year and no excuse for not having a job.

That brings me to your sister. Afraid she is still one of the 1.3 million Neets (not in employment, education or training) generation. I can’t understand how she finds it so hard to get a job when none of those lovely young Pole and Czech youngsters appear to have any problems. One bit of good news, she should be starting her drug rehabilitation classes in the next few weeks
I thought your degree in media and origami would have given you a smattering of basic economics. But no, from the mistakes in your letter it looks like you will need to attend one of these remedial classes that employers are forced to provide for their new graduates. Five minutes using Google would have avoided these silly mistakes.

Don’t be so gloomy. I am sure if you lost some weight, stopped smoking and didn’t drink so much, the world will look a lot better. I am sure your mates’ stag nights in Prague and Barcelona will cheer you up.

I had better get back to writing the umpteenth job application. Not much fun trying to get re-employed when you are 50-plus.

Love

Mum and Dad

Go to Stroud's site for the complete versions of both letters. Well done Dick. Dick says that he'll be returning to the subject, I can't wait.