Readers give their views on the funding of social care and the contribution they have made
Can someone tell me why the narrative around the raising of national insurance and income tax constantly alludes to the importance of pensioners paying their fair share (Raising national insurance to fund social care is fraught with political risk, 3 September)? I started my working life in the 1970s, when the average tax for low- and middle-income earners was 40%-50%. This compares with the 20% currently being paid. My generation paid this high rate gladly, on the assumption that we were investing in a health and welfare system that would protect us from birth to grave. All of us pensioners deserve every penny we are receiving, as we have paid our fair share.
Surely, the focus of our egalitarian concerns should be the top earners whose tax has dropped from 75%/83% in the 70s to 45%. This has arguably lead to the discrepancy in wealth distribution, and a struggling health and welfare service.
Hildegard Dumper
Nailsea, Somerset
