POLL: Should young people ‘stop whinging’ and work harder to pay bills?

As the cost of living crisis continues to hit household finances, one pensioner has hit out at the work ethic of younger generations, claiming that they need to “stop whinging” and work harder to pay their bills.

Former engineer Brian Meek said that he and his wife Rosemary, who worked in the civil service, would put in extra hours at weekends and evenings to help make ends meet when interest rates rose in the late 70s, hiking up mortgage repayments. 

On Thursday, the Bank of England increased the base interest rate to five percent, with the 15-year high causing concern for mortgage borrowers who will experience significant increases in their repayments.

The 76-year-old said: “We just did whatever we had to so we could keep paying our mortgage. We worked all the hours God sent – we had to. If you want to keep what you’ve got, you have to keep working for it.

“You’ve never had it so good – we had it a lot worse than it is now. People need to stop whinging about it. Especially younger people – just get on with it if you can, you have to pay the bills. We worked to pay our mortgage because we wanted to.”

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He said there were times when the long hours meant that he and his wife would barely see each other in their efforts to knuckle down and earn more.

He explained: “We liked the house and wanted to stay in it, so we put in the extra hours when interest rates went sky high, we had to because we wanted to keep our home.

“We were like ships in the night – I worked 8 to 5, then looked after our daughters while Rosemary worked in the evenings. If she had to start earlier I’d finish early and make up the hours. 

“I worked every Saturday and Sunday until the interest rates dropped again. It was hard on us as a couple, but we got through – you do what you have to if you want something.”

So what do YOU think? Should young people ‘stop whinging’ and work harder to pay bills? Vote in our poll and leave your thoughts in the comment section below.