I need to respond to Tim Ridgway’s comment piece in Monday’s paper (The Argus, March 31).

Yes, I do feel sorry for Tim and for the seemingly disillusioned state which led him to having a rant at wealthy pensioners, but please don’t tar us all with the same brush.

He should be focusing on why we are all struggling, rather than attack a minority.

Every generation has issues with the previous one but what is clear is that all generations have benefited from the work and sacrifices of previous ones.

Each generation has both rich and poor and today we have pensioners who are well-off but there are many more who are struggling to make ends meet.

According to figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, in 2010 and 2011 the average net income for all pensioners (couples and single pensioners together) was £369 per week before housing costs, but half of them have between £269 and £140 per week to live on.

The average pensioner is poor and getting poorer the longer they live. On retirement, they face a future of a dwindling pension, longer life with increasing frailty, and with housing, health and social services already struggling.

Yes, Tim, you come across many affluent pensioners in the South East but if you look in our Day Centres and sheltered homes you are more likely to come across an “average” pensioner with more downright views and having to ration their activities.

Rather than start an intergenerational conflict, younger people should focus on the real issues that give rise to such an article.

Tim is in a great position to influence and work towards improving the many issues he has raised.

How about old retirees and younger people working together, especially this election year, to set the agenda for change, attack injustice and make the future better than the present?

Mike Bojczuk, chair of the Older People’s Council for Brighton and Hove