I think I made a similar point earlier up the topic, so we are in total agreement on that.
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I think you need to walk past and read some of the job offers and wages in pole emploi and temping agencies .
I have no need, thanks.
I just thought that you might offer a justification for your bland comment, that’s all.
It’s certainly a growing problem here especially in the larger towns and cities. All four of our kids rent and the cost of just a basic two bed flat is 600+ per month so when you add on food, heating and transport anyone living on SMIC is really going to struggle.
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The reasons for poverty in the UK have shifted a little, but the effect is the same it always was. In my childhood we were far from the poorest family in the street. It seems to me that our baseline has gone up quite a bit without recognising that.
I don’t WANT people to be poor. I do expect there to always be some who will struggle, including professionals with a reasonable job and a mortgage, as well as those on minimum wage or long term unemployed.
And now the UK is going to go into difficult times. Ideally house prices would drop to about 30% of their present levels in many areas, but that would destroy the country with so much capital tied up in housing, not to mention incredible hardship.
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All these things are relative of course… this index is for the UK in average terms for 2022.
Prices are very much differently based these days of course but I cannot help but think back to when Vanessa and I were first married in the early 1970’s. Our first property was a semi detached 2 bed bungalow in Essex which we bought for just less than £10k and even though we both had good professional jobs, we struggled to keep our heads above water but we managed within our means.
I’m sure your kids and their partners do too as many young people do when they first set out to make a home for themselves.
We have a friend (a widower) who recently rented a 1 bed furnished apartment in a village just outside a largish Charente town with grounds for a potager and a garage for his car for 400€/month. Excellent value. The local town was also in walking distance with all facilities so these types of property are available so no reliance on a car was needed for essentials although he does have a car of course).
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seems you are alone in liking lemon pasta - I like a bit of sharp lemon with plenty of chillies, bit of garlic and loads of crabmeat.
but not on its own with just pasta…
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Less than 10% of the French population now live in rural areas so for the vast majority (90%+ ) the scenario you’ve mentioned isn’t relevant. Our eldest son lives in Bordeaux and is moving out of his two bed apartment because he can’t afford the rent (600 euros) on his own, it is an absolutely grotty place and freezing cold in winter.
House prices and rents in the UK are bonkers and it’s almost impossible for youngsters to take that first step but the situation in the big cities here is no different and the lending criteria is also much tougher.
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Well, to be brutality honest with you @tim17 you can’t even bring yourself to agree to something when someone basically agrees with you so I don’t really see much point in continuing any dialogue with you.
Sad really.
Not sure I said anything daft Graham but I’ve no interest in an argument so we’ll leave it there.
I’m with tim on this graham both my lads rent in towns ,Nantes and Toulouse ,both one bed studio style 650 € and 750€ respectivley both on take home of around 1800€ a month.
When comments like wages are better and its cheaper to live in France,then I think the comment is baseless
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I think I said all things are relative…
Crab with anything for me please.
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My recipe for Lemon Pasta… a quick, comforting plateful.
1 Lemon (juice + zest), 2 spoonfuls of good olive oil, lots of grated parmesan cheese…
Blended together then stirred into the drained, hot pasta (sphaghetti/tagliatelle/whatever)…
Lots of black pepper…
Delicious either on its own or topped with avocado chunks and/or anything which comes to hand… and of course… more parmesan is always a good idea…
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“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.”
― Salman Rushdie
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The toilet is a great invention, but I wouldn’t want to live in one.
Coming back to the OP, in all seriousness this thread is entirely why it’s not really possible to mute most political threads.
18 months or so ago I got very grumpy about one of the main covid threads as it became overrun by very moany people complaining about how terrible France’s vaccine rollout was, when the reality is that it all came together perfectly well in the end, it was just people getting riled up in the moment, especially because of the barrage of propaganda from across the channel on how they had the world leading super fast best of the best vaccine rollout clouding their judgment and longer term view of what matters. I was desperate to mute that thread but the moaning was hijacking a thread full of stats and valuable information so it wasn’t possible. Ditto the political threads, between the low quality posts of moaning or sniping or the usual suspects trying to rile people up there’s generally very good conversation and very valid, interesting, and sometimes important information that you don’t want to miss.
From a moany start (sorry @Ancient_Mariner 
) this has turned into a very interesting enjoyable thread, most of which would have been missed had it been muted early on. To my mind muting is rarely the answer, a bit improvement of temperament and manners by all allowing debate but with cool heads is all that’s needed generally I feel.
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Oh @kirsteastevenson I couldn’t agree more, well said.
It is for that reason (amongst others) that I championed the creation of the stayontopic tag which, because it is rarely used and only with the permission of the Team (@cat in particular), those topics which, by their very nature, should be devoid of “noise” to limit the sniping, turn out to be very well respected and extremely useful sources of reference. I think the tag helps enormously in avoiding the issues that concern you as outlined meaning that the need to mute disappears.
So, it can be done - it just needs a bit of discipline 
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I don’t know what sort of dinner party you might be imagining, but it’s not for me!
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I should make it plain - it’s NOT the interpersonal sniping, much as that detracts from the threads - but the continuous pissing and whining, the school boy sweary nick names for those we dislike, the reiterations of the latest Boris debacle and the running down of the home country as though all remaining residents were heartless scum. It’s often more like naughty boys behind the bike sheds than dinner party conversation. As I said, I wouldn’t want to stop political discussion, but would very much wish it were done differently.
@kirsteastevenson I’m glad this has gone in a different direction too.
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