There's a phrase that keeps getting thrown at me by my two daughters which every parent over 55 is no doubt familiar with.
You moan that they’re never off their phones, ask why there’s a Q in LGBTQ or why, if they’re so into saving the planet, they never switch off the bathroom light and you hear “OK Boomer” which effectively translates as “up yours, old fart”.
The put-down has gone viral as Millennials and Gen Zs taunt those of us born between Hitler topping himself and The Beatles breaking America for managing to give ourselves the cushiest of lives while screwing theirs.
They have a point because we are the most fortunate generation ever to walk the planet.
We didn’t fight the wars our parents or grandparents did nor have to face the kind of debt our children will.
We enjoyed free higher education, mortgage tax relief, job security and decent pensions, while engineering a property boom and a credit splurge future generations will still be paying the price for when they retire.
It’s why those under 30 today will officially be the first generation to end up poorer than their parents, earning less money and working longer for worse pensions.
That’s before mentioning how we Boomers saddled them with a climate crisis and Brexit, and put a dumb, orange-faced sulk-machine in charge of the most lethal nuclear arsenal ever.
But today’s young adults shouldn’t let all that become an excuse to stay slouched in the same bedroom they’ve been in since their dad put Thomas The Tank Engine wallpaper up, on their phones creating GIFs and memes about us (and yes, I can hear you saying “OK Boomer” as I type). If you truly want to grab power and realise your destiny then get angry and get equal.
Through the ballot box.
One of the main reasons the economy is skewed in favour of the over-60s is that we are the ones who vote. We’re the ones the politicians woo.
The triple-locked pension bribes go to the Boomers paid for by the locking in of tuition fees.
And to those young people who say “but we turned out in droves at the last election to vote for Jeremy Corbyn which stopped the Tories getting a majority”, it turns out that was a myth.
Because despite the anecdotal “youthquake” claims after the 2017 election, the under-25s turnout was only slightly up on 2015.
Detailed research last year by the British Election Study team showed that fewer than half the under-25s voted while almost 80% of over-55s did.
It was even worse during the EU referendum when 90% of over-65s voted, twice as many as the under-25s.
Yet 73% of those under-25s voted to remain in the EU with 65% of pensioners voting to leave.
So, instead of just moaning about selfish Gammon Boomers denying you free access to live and work in Spain why not do something about it?
If 90% of under-30s voted at this election, and voted with the same intent as they did at the referendum, for parties offering a remain option, then it’s highly likely Boris Johnson won’t get a majority. And you may get your way.
So stay off Facebook for half an hour next month and vote because it could be the difference between a bright and grim future.
Ok non-Boomer?
