WHICH HARD-DONE-BY-GENERATION ARE YOU?

Is the generational divide getting bigger? You’d think so if you listen to the media. Is it being stirred up deliberately for some unfathomable political purpose?...... Or maybe it’s just a topic that gets people going.

Even the way different generations are labelled is divisive. We've got the Wartime Generation, the Baby Boomers, the Boomerang Generation, the Sandwich Generation and the Millenials. It all sounds very ‘them and us’ to me. And all of them seem to be blaming another generation for the problems of modern life, and claiming to be worse off than all the others.

Why do any of us feel the need to be recognised as the most hard done by generation?

Well, I do have to admit, there have been times when I have been tempted to feel resentful about younger people having it easier than we did when we were young. Just as an example - supermarket parking spaces for parent and child. How I would have appreciated them when my kids were small! But I had to struggle with baby, toddler, pre-schooler and shopping in very tight spaces indeed.

(If you ever got your car scraped whilst parked at a supermarket in the 80s, that was probably me trying to get the kids out of the car. Sorry.)

So why do I want to say, “Huh, they should have to struggle like I did. Nobody gave us privileged parking”.

And then there's disposable nappies. “Oh it's alright for young mums these days, they don't have to be swilling out terry nappies every day. Buckets of stinking water all over the place, and no automatic washing machine…”

There are countless other ways that parents’ lives have been eased in practical ways. So shouldn't I be glad for them?

Well, yes, and I am really. Good for them, I say. I can also see that in other ways they have it harder than we did. And knowing the living standards and employment conditions my grandparents and parents took as normal, I can say they certainly didn't have a cushy life either. At least I had a car and access to supermarkets!

We've been lucky as a family. There are four generations and we all get on together brilliantly (most of the time).

I guess we should just stop trying to compete for the prize of having things the hardest. We had our problems, the young parents have theirs. Some of them are still the same, but many are different. Let them have their parking spaces and disposable nappies, I’m just glad I didn’t have to face the same pressures parents of today do.