To think that there is no hope here?

What do the top 1% earn and what do they do? Whatever it is my heart breaks for them, life must be so hard, bless them and may they find peace, fulfillment and even more money. Meanwhile in the real world, we've got 4 food banks near me, one has just moved to permanant premises. The local church does a free meal every Wednesday, there is such a high demand that they have to turn people away. all the houses that come on the market are out of reach of the pocket of local wokers so get bought up by landlords who then neglect then . I have seen the area I live in fall into such decay and disrepair that I hate leaving my house, but hey, spare a thought for the hard done to 1%, they are the true victims in the decline of this country.

Many people feel that there comes a point in life when trading your time for shit wages and a shit life just isn’t worth the effort.

Live off the state. Commit crime. What’s the point anyway?

That is the mentality those moaning about being net contributors are fuelling and some people on low incomes and benefits feel just as trapped as OP just in a different way. Who pays what amount of tax doesn’t change that.

OP has relatives in America. Instead of changing her life and moving there (I doubt she will ever move out of the UK) the statistics she presented are skewed to suit her own narrative.

The fact is net contributors don’t add value to anyone’s life more than the bin men that collect the rubbish, the street cleaners that clean up the dirt and the list goes on and on. Not everything that is quantifiable is meaningful.

I thought that had been debunked? Anyway it's a Ponzi scheme. Those immigrants are going to get just as old and prone to illness as people already here. And they will never earn enough in their lifetimes to be net contributers as they aren't mostly high earners.

My post above was for @PurpleChrayn whom I forgot to quote

But immigration as a whole is a net contributor to the UK so stopping people coming in will make the situation worse. The average immigrant contributes more than the average person already here

ONS: "The proportion of people living in households receiving more in benefits than they paid in taxes decreased from 53.6% to 52.6%"

OP: "52.6% of UK individuals are reliant on the State (that is 35 million people)"

Labour are not sorting it out by going after SMEs with higher taxes. It’s why they’ve also gone for welfare cuts and are already eyeing up more tax rises.

No. I mean it's everyone for themselves. Look at the junior doctors. They don't care about patient.lives. They just want more cash. The social contract, as I said at the start, has broken down. If I'm entitled to some cash I'm claiming it. I don't blame people who claim benefits if they are entitled to it. I blame the government (s) for putting people in the situation where they have to claim benefits in the first place which has caused this mess. And that's governments of both sides.

I presume this has to do with anti Semitism. I do think that exists to a surprising degree in British society and it is inexcusable.

Economically, as Israeli residents you will be taxed on your worldwide income. I am sure you know, but others may not, that until very top brackets income taxes and VAT are a bit lower than the UK, VAT is a bit lower, and there is no IHT. But other taxes are a bit higher and professional salaries are notably lower.

To say nothing of the war

So you don’t think it’s fair that people who have lots of money pay more tax than people who don’t have much?

@Quirkswork
Remember 2010-2024? Oh yes, everything was brilliant during that period…….austerity, Brexit, Johnson’s appalling government during covid, etc.
Labour are trying to deal with the fallout of all that Tory shite over the previous 14 years.
If Reform were to be elected Farage wants to spend 17bn on prisons, deportations etc with funding from scrapping HS2 (wasting what has already been spent) and scrapping net zero (after the much hotter summer weather we keep having in recent years).

Crime but then the tax payer still pays when you are in prison!

So child benefit claimant good, every other benefit claimant bad ? You should only be able to take out what you put in ?

There aren't going on for 70 million people in places like Norway. There are about 5 million.

It was perfectly serious l think. We’re a society and we all have to pay - from each according to his means, to each according to his need. That’s how it’s supposed to work.

They can't get a job now that Employers NI and the increased workers rights have decimated the part time and starter jobs industry that young people rely on. Labour is not for the young.

I wonder how these stats compare to similar stats in Scandinavian countries (economies with a strong social component) or, say, Canada.

In a way, I don't blame young people just opting to not work - people I know in their 20's and even 30's are either still at home with parents or in a house-share. There isn't much of a difference in their lifestyle whether they work an average paid job or not work at all.

Why shouldn't she? She should get as much as she can out. She's paying enough taxes.

So you don’t think anyone should work for the public sector because we can’t afford it? We’re still paying taxes you know. Should we just sack all the street cleaners, police officers, doctors & teachers? Who will teach all the young people who are trying to get out there to work and get jobs in the private sector?

Where did I say that I think the State needs to tax you more?!

See the post below yours by @VioletandDill. Explains very nicely why it does matter who makes up that 52%.

I hope you’ve never claimed child benefit OP.

This.

Couldn't work out if the comment "if you're in such a high earnings bracket why do you feel the need to keep it all to yourselves and why do you think you shouldn't have to pay for things?" was being serious. Hopefully not.

The things that worry me the most are that things I got 'told' by the goverment keep changing.

So for example when I planned my future I took into account what age I would get my state pension and the fact it would keep in line with inflation.

When they keep changing this it makes me worry as I have built my plans around what they told me would be part of my retirement.

For example my state pension was 'fully paid up' when I was in my forties and it says I couldn't increase it even with further contributions.

With that safety net I left work to become a carer to my elderly parents (no benefits claimed as they paid me to do it from their savings).

I'm in my fifties now and living on my own savings till my first private pension kicks in at 55 or it might be 57 cos they keep moving that as well.

I've based all my calculations of how much private pension I needed to save and when I could stop working (to be a carer) based on how much state pension I would get and when.

When they keep moving that goal post and you are in middle age it is very worrying because how can you plan when things keep moving under you.

I also took into account what my costs would be (living frugually which I am fine with). That would have assumed there was an NHS and dentist services and ambulance services etc. I'm already paying private dental care which isn't something I expected to have to do and it appears the NHS might now be charged for (I can see some benefits to that but....again another change to my budgeting requirements which I have no control over).

So yes I planned to be self sufficient based on what they told me I could expect.

So can I rely on that or should I assume the state pension will keep moving further out until it becomes almost nothing.

I feel like part of retirement planning now requires a crystal ball and praying alot.

How are people supposed to be socially mobile and ambitious when working even a full time job doesn't guarantee that you'll be able to keep a roof over your head?