Duncan Barkes

Guest Columnist

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HERE is a generational civil war taking place involving those — that have lived much of their life and those that have it stretching out before them. It can be neatly summed up as Boomers versus Zoomers. Let me explain.

The Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. This generation is mostly benefiting from a state pension that enjoys the protection of a triple lock — a guarantee that the pension increases each year in line with either inflation, wage increases or 2.5% — whichever is the highest. Many Boomers have also done extremely well out of the property market in their lives. They have seen the value of their homes increase significantly as they were able to buy relatively cheaply in the Seventies and Eighties.

Boomers might also be enjoying additional income from stocks or shares having benefited from the privatisation explosion of the 1980-90s and they could also be reaping the rewards of paying into a private pension for much of their working lives. Or as a Zoomer of my acquaintance describes them: “Sitting in a big house with no mortgage, two cars, shopping for their dinner at Waitrose or Marks & Spencer every day and enjoying two cruises a year, whilst I struggle to find a room to rent somewhere decent that I can afford.”