To think having £211/week each after housing costs isn't poverty?

[PianoThirty]

It is according to the Social Metrics Commission.

They say the poverty line is £203/week for a single parent with one child, £422/week for a couple with two children. All figures are after** housing costs and childcare costs (if applicable).

I'd be over the moon if we had £422/week to spend, and I don't think we're anywhere near poor.

That’s way more than us and we’re okay I think!

Link to full report: socialmetricscommission.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SMC_measuring-poverty-201908_full-report.pdf

The Guardian’s coverage: www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/29/uk-deep-poverty-study-austerity

How much would you be left with after council tax, all bills and food though?

This isn't after all living costs is it?

I would think it's poverty. Not absolute poverty but in relative terms it's poor. After water rates, gas, electric, phone and internet the food budget is going to be tight and there'll be little if anything left for luxuries. If council tax needs to be paid from the £211 it's gonna be pretty dire some weeks.

So I just worked it out. If. I had £422 left a week and it was a 4 week month, after all my bills and food, Inc loan repayments. And even my Netflix and kids activities. I'd still have £133 a week. That's not poverty!! That's more than I have now!!!!

I never know what they mean by housing costs. I presume it doesnt include council tax?

Another thread demonising poor people. Well done.

Yes household bills will reduce that by much more than half I would imagine, leaving not much for food, clothes, transport and emergencies.

Council tax, water, gas and electricity, food, transport costs, clothing, phone cost, TV license, medical costs (e.g., prescriptions, dentistry, opticians), household maintenance... it all adds up.

Incidentally, I’d quite like a link that explicitly states that figure because, search as I might, I can’t find it.

I have £190 a week after household bills...
From that I pay for all food, haircuts, clothes, nursery fees (30 free hours so this is minimal), petrol, car tax and insurance, mobile phone, Netflix, insurances for iPads / laptops... for myself and 2 DCs.

I don’t think we’re in poverty... we don’t have savings and we’re definitely not “well off” but we have a very nice standard of living, still have treats and nice clothes.

But I wouldn’t consider us to be in poverty.

Poverty is having no home, hear or food. We have a generous welfare state in the UK to provide people basics and then some.

Those figures aren’t anywhere near poverty levels.

I wish I had that amount left a month, let alone a week.

@Alsohuman - Click on the PDF link above. You’ll find the figure of £422/week on page 99. To understand their definition of “available resources”, see page 14.

But that's after household bills @TheChain. The figure listed above is after housing costs only. I have around £200 after bills a week and we do okay but we'd struggle on less.

To get that amount despite our 'generous' welfare state I have to work 50 hours a week as a single parent.

Poverty is having no home, hear or food. We have a generous welfare state in the UK to provide people basics and then some.

And then some? Do you actually believe that? That benefits cover everything, let alone with extras?

Housing costs are rent/mortgage.

After that comes council tax, water rates (if not in Scotland where it's included in CT), gas, electric, phone bill (landline or mobile), food, clothes/shoes, travel, toiletries/cleaning products. Then there's unexpected repairs, unexpected bills (school trips, bus fares for kids).

Poverty is not having enough money to live to a basic standard.

I'm staggered that anyone believes benefits give a good standard of living, let alone with extras. They really, really don't. They SHOULD, and were originally designed to do so, but they very definitely don't.

Would £200 a week feel like a lot after all those needs were met? I'm willing to bet not.

What are “housing costs” explicitly stated as? Is it just rent or mortgage payments, or rent/mortgage + council tax, or rent/mortgage + council tax + basic utility bills.

You know it would be really nice if this thread could be an intelligent discussion about relative poverty without the virtue signallers and the hand wringers jumping all over it.

Poor people are actually allowed to talk about their situation. If all the (rich) bleeding hearts start screaming about “poor people bashing” then the very people who want to actually discuss this can’t get a word in edgeways, which only serves to then silence the poor. As usual!

I'd say it was poverty, yes. Once you take out the rest of the bills, you might be able to survive on what's left but it doesn't leave you any fat in the budget for unexpected costs.

Page 99 @PianoThirty??

You are clearly a journo looking for a story, with back up from IceCreamAndCandyfloss telling us we have a generous welfare state.
Stroll on.

It's not £200 a week pocket money/spending money. It's £200 a week after rent and mortgage...so approx £900 a month for Council tax, water, electric, gas, insurances, telephone, TV, Food, childcare, transport...as well as holidays, clothing, days out, treat etc.

say council tax is £120 a month
water £30 a month
gas/electric £80 a month
Phone tv £40 a month
Food £50 a week
car insurance tax and fuel £250 a month
Childcare £300 a month

you have spent all your money already.

The washing machine blows up or the car needs an MOT and you have no money to pay for it. There is no money to clothe your child, no money to take them to the cinema or for swimming lessons. Sounds pretty bloody miserable to me

@gingersausage - Housing costs appear to be only rent or mortgage. The report makes no mention of utility bills (water/gas/electric) nor council tax.

I'd agree it's not poverty (and I don't think anyone is being "demonised"!)

We have a generous welfare state in the UK to provide people basics and then some.

Awesome.
Best just pop out and let those homeless people know. Don't forget the kids that go to school starving, the food bank users, those folk that committed suicide, the elderly that freeze to death in their own homes... I could go on..

Best let them know how generous the benefit state is, I bet they just didn't realise.

@ssd - No, I’m not a journalist. If I was, I would have posted this yesterday when the report came out.

I found the figures on page 99, because when I read the article on the Guardian I couldn’t quite believe it, so I checked the original report.