Inter-generational fairness is the latest political fad. Hence we see reports that embattled chancellor Philip Hammond might be preparing to cut pension tax relief for older workers to fund tax cuts for younger ones.
As former pensions minister Ros Altmann was quick to point out, age has little to do with wealth. To dish out tax cuts based on age looks like an election bribe six months too late. The Conservatives have a problem with young voters, but this is not the way to solve it. Arguably the reason youngsters went to Labour in such numbers before the last election is that they pay too little tax.
It is easy to demand more public spending if you do not have to pick up the tab.
Anyone who has watched the evolution of their children from when they leave home to paying their own housing bills can testify that dipping into one's own pocket can change attitudes.
It is easy to demand more public spending if you do not have to pick up the tabI well remember the outrage of my stepson as a teenager when he got his first payslip: “But I don’t want to pay tax.”
Young people undoubtedly face a problem buying property, but as I have argued this has more to do with tax subsidies handed to property investors, which have pushed up prices. A potential first-time buyer stamp duty cut might help.
Then there are the student loan debts. But how much of this is due to youngsters being encouraged to attend third-rate universities offering fourth-rate degrees, which will not help employment prospects?
Then we come to the responsibility youngsters hold for their own debts.
Compare the lifestyles and expectations of those now in their 70s and 80s when they were young with those now in their 20s. How many youngsters would abandon foreign holidays for a week in a seaside B&B?
Would they could cancel their Sky and Virgin TV subscriptions and just watch the free terrestrial channels.
They could give up the takeaways and eating out and instead cook at home.
Times and expectations change, but inter-generational fairness is not a one-way street.
I am not dismissing the desperate circumstances some people find themselves in – sometimes because of irresponsible lending policies of banks, credit card providers and catalogues. But the vast majority of youngsters enjoy a lifestyle way beyond that enjoyed by their grandparents.
They have benefited from the greater wealth of their parents, which often provided them with cosseted upbringings. It is tough when you finally have to pay the bills, but that is part of adulthood.
Cancelled for lack of interest
How do you convince ordinary people that financial advice has a real value? With great difficulty it would seem.
One persistent theme in getting financial advice to the masses has been doing it through the workplace or unions.
Last week my wife received an email from Prospect, a union whose members include architects, actuaries, air-traffic controllers, biologists, chemists, health and safety inspectors and magistrates' clerks. The sort of people you might have thought would have some interest in organising their money.
The email informed Mrs H that due to lack of interest a series of financial planning events had been cancelled.
These events in Cheltenham, London and Wakefield offered introductory sessions on retirement flexibility options, tax, investments, legacy planning and inheritance tax and financial planning.
They were free. They were at convenient locations and at convenient times: 4:15pm to 6:30pm. There were even nice little incentives such as free books.
Well done Prospect for trying, but clearly your members decided it was more important to catch the latest edition of Neighbours or Eggheads.
Help the tech-unsavvy
The Financial Conduct Authority has raised the issue of a firm failing to take into account older customers – among others – when developing products, services and distribution channels.
I suspect we are talking about the internet here, with older non-tech savvy consumers being excluded from the best options, best deals and easiest access by metro-central firms.
This is not just a problem for the financial industry. Utilities and plenty of retailers have this daft assumption that everyone has access to high speed broadband and a laptop in their living room.
The government is equally culpable with consumer-facing departments continually trying to drive us to the internet.
What makes me fume is when they suggest that those without the internet at home could try using a library and asking someone there to help.
For the record, 343 public libraries closed in the six years to 2016 with the loss of 8,000 jobs.
Perhaps they are too busy looking at their smartphones to notice.
Tony Hazell writes for the Daily Mail's Money Mail section
