How poor are the British people in UK?

General Discussion
41

Was that supposed to be ironic @geof_cox ?

42

He was actually much more subtle than that, in his reply. Not sure Rishi really got it.

2 Likes
44

Hairbear, however you feel about what’s being said, please there is no need to get abusive. It’s one of the reasons this forum works. Please back away, maybe mute the thread, or this poster, if they annoy you.

3 Likes
45

Ollie is spouting fascist tropes. I’m sorry, but I don’t agree with fascism.

5 Likes
46

He was too subtle, a mouth full might have got through, but then again I doubt it.

47

Heating was always the big difficulty for many elderly people in particular, since forever. Even in areas that look like they’re doing OK there were always people who had to choose between food and heat, or poor food and maybe heating one room for part of the evening only.

This was always the case and now there are the massive increases in heating costs in particular. There’s a lot of poverty hidden behind closed doors and not just in locations that are known not to be doing well economically

1 Like
48

It’s also about the costs of things like local government charges and taxes - in a recession it feels like UK government charges and local government costs increase in bigger chunks then inflation does.

49

… and a female person, at that… interestingly

1 Like
50

Why do you think Tory Central Office would be any more aware of just how blindingly offensive Sunak was.

51

I would really like to know your source for this information please

1 Like
52

He knows a woman who has her hair and nails done

53

It’s difficult to know anyone’s full circumstances, especially if they’re telling you about them! One of the things I notice is that people from less privileged backgrounds (and “privilege” here may simply be having parents who teach you to budget, cook, work - if they are in work, of course - and how to make good choices) often make bad choices.

So, leaving aside this one person, one of the UK’s problems is increasing inequality. This has a tendency to lock poorer people into poverty, and to insulate richer people from people at the bottom of the pile. Richer people then are tempted to think, “Well, I’ve done all right: the fact that some people haven’t must be their own fault.”

Does that make sense?

1 Like
54

Golly! I certainly hope not.

I don’t think we can say that all those with wealth are in ignorance, nor that they feel others are financially straightened by their own fault. There are some very generous and giving folk in all walks of life.

I suppose people are people, and whether rich or poor, can presumably read and see things that are around them. Inequality is striking and whether we put that down to luck or something else is more down to character and compassion.

Perhaps the root of the problem is that society does not see itself as one entity, unified and lifting up one another. I don’t know but what propelled humans to compete against others for individual success is to blame for an inability to self sacrifice for the collective. One of the (several) reasons Communism did not work.

I certainly hope for the sake of humanity’s future that not all the comfortably off condemn people with less for being the architects of their own misfortunes.

55

But living on a low income is not the same as living in poverty. Many people live on a low income and are able to afford hairdressers and a few non-essentials. Do you consider that this person lives in poverty?

I agree with this. But I do not think we should simply dismiss the minority who do suffer poverty, just because they are a minority. It is shocking that poverty exists at all when the country has so much wealth. And it is especially shocking when children grow up in poverty.

1 Like
56

What seems to be happening in the UK is that many people formerly in the ‘have’s’ section of society are now ‘have not’s’ due to increases in the cost of housing and food/energy etc, whether this will just be a blip remains to be seen.

3 Likes
57

Quite, @tim17 The blip may run on.

A UK recession may become the biggest spur to UK seeking to rejoin the EU. As what remains to be seen (and negotiated for 2+ years).

58

When my income was lower I had massages etc these helped me to keep going at work and were therefore not a luxury

2 Likes
59

I would not want to disregard those suffering poverty, but do not find it at all shocking - much more I would be genuinely sceptical for nation to claim poverty has been eliminated because life is complicated and people do things that are un-logical to us. Generational poverty is much more concerning to me, because people can be locked in based on mistakes made by forebears that then set their family on a particular course. We may of course see this in a big way, if humanity can’t find a clean energy source and curb population growth.

1 Like
60

Population growth is not a problem - it’s rapidly slowing down anyway - and without immigration population shrinkage would be a significant problem for most developed countries. These developed countries in turn consume almost all of the world’s dirty energy. The richest 1% - ONE percent - are responsible for about 150% more harmful emissions than the poorest 50% - HALF - of the world’s people (who are mainly in countries with higher population growth).

It would benefit everybody to curtail the 2 main drivers of population growth - ie. improve education, especially for girls in poor countries, and make sure everybody has a decent pension - but this would have little impact on climate/ecological breakdown, because what drives this is not the size of the population, but the lifestyles of rich people and the economic systems that enable their over-consumption.

1 Like