A retiree. Aka boomer.

Retired people. -source old American waiting to be corrected

Someone who is retired and now collects social security (or their equivalent of it anyway). We use that term here sometimes, too, though it is less common now than “retiree.” As for being the butt of jokes: think like “ok, boomer.” And just that old people are easy targets for jokes.

Something I haven’t seen mentioned here yet is that a good chunk of the beef isn’t necessarily caused by old age pensioners themselves, but the perception that they are the demographic who the Conservative government (and by extension, Labour, who seem to have lost all originality and soul of their own) are attempting to court.

Others have highlighted part of why this perception exists, such as the triple lock pensions, or the fact that older people are more likely to own property, but also there’s a heck ton of Tory policies that are harmful to many older people too. I think that most of the Tory pals are probably older, but also that they’re a small fraction of the whole demographic.

My opinion is that this perception that the Tories favour pensioners is greater than the degree to which they actually do. I don’t have any sources for that though, this part is vibes based speculation from a UK leftist.

For additional educational material on pensioners I suggest Still Game: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiacTaYXyRfxMFMOGl6KRLpA6y11JFKZ4

Old people. Cantankerous, poor old people on welfare - think Abe Simpson, but living alone.

‘Retired’ suggests a reasonable nest-egg of savings or superannuation to live on, and has a whiff of golf about it.

‘Pensioner’ on the other hand suggests skating the poverty line, and has old-people smell.