Sir Tim Brighouse must have escaped the 1980s (“Yes, there should be a graduate tax - but just for the ‘charmed generations’ aged between 45 and 70”, November 5).

There must be many people who “got on their bikes and looked for work” at this time. This caused people to be uprooted from their homes, seek work elsewhere and leave their family communities. There was a struggle to buy houses when gazumping was rife and house prices were rising thousands of pounds by the week, especially in the South East. People had jobs, lost them and often experienced redundancy more than once.

Every generation encounters struggles and it is impossible to measure and compare the pitfalls of one generation against another. It is, however, a gross generalisation to say that everyone who lived through the 1980s, especially at the start of their careers, was part of a “charmed generation”.

Louise Gill, Marford, Wrexham.