Economically inactive people……

There's a good reason Sunak gave people in receipt of benefits an extra £20 per month and hardship lump sums in the pandemic when most middle class folks were holed up in their homes not spending.

He knew they would have to spend that money out of either nesseceity or simply because it was there putting it straight back into the economy at a time it desperately needed it.

it seems to many people and not enough people to sell goods and services too, then we outsource to cheaper countries, then companies want to make redundancies what excatly or how is the economy ment to get better ?

So it boils down to people earning their money. Which is divisive.

How on earth is that divisive?

Yeah people on benefits get told they are a drain and cant be economically active because their money comes from taxpayers. So does the salary of public sector employees too.
So it boils down to people earning their money. Which is divisive.

You are wrong.

Some people simply can not work. And disability isn’t idleness.

The truth is we all need to pay more tax from the poorest to the richest but no government would dare suggest it. That tax also needs to be spent wisely and not given to private companies.

American often talk about the glory days of the 50s and don't realise that was only down to higher taxes spent wisely.

Since the 80s people have been tricked into thinking 50p extra in their pay from reduced tax is worth more than well run services and infrastructure through wise tax spending.

I understand your frustration at being singled out and vilified the same way those on welfare are because being very well off or very poor makes you easy targets for the left/right leaning media.

They are providing a service. One measure of GDP is the total value of goods and services produced.

Another reason for our low productivity. We are a service based economy with many jobs hard to automate & paying crappy wages.

I think that actually students need to be looked at as well.

The push to extend education and make people get university degrees for jobs where they are not actually required takes a huge number of people out of the workforce during what could be some of their most economically useful years.

And usually it's not just that they aren't productive, they are accruing large amounts of debt which will drag them down for years.

Some work does require a university degree. Others require some training but it's better delivered outside of a university and doesn't require the same time or infrastructure. Many many other jobs could be, and used to be, trained on the job, including some that we wouldn't think of today. And people were paid and doing work while training.

What kind of training is actually best for differernt types of work needs a serious rethink, and not one that is just trying to prop up the university sector.

@becausetrampslikeus No. The insane thing actually is that anything the government pays for is included. Schooling, healthcare etc. That's why strikes are so damaging, not only to.infividuaks, but also to the economy and GDP.

It's bonkers when you think about the cyclical nature of people working, paying taxes, adding to GDP, for the government to spend on things generating more GDP.

You have to pay roughly £17k a year in tax for everyone in your household to break even with what the government spent on you. We’re a net tax contributor household (through our jobs before I’m accused of anything), it’s why it’s super annoying when you’re accused of being selfish for not wanting tax rises by someone receiving net £10k a year when you’re paying over £70k a year in to the system.

Productivity of the country
what is that?
does that mean that not only “economic inactive” people but also doctors and nurses and teachers don’t really count because they don’t produce anything ?

No. They are providing a service. One measure of GDP is the total value of goods and services produced.

Productivity of the country

what is that?

does that mean that not only “economic inactive” people but also doctors and nurses and teachers don’t really count because they don’t produce anything ?

I have been economically inactive for 20 years, couldn't be arsed to work any more, decided to be a trad wife. DH has now retired early, aged 60. We are extremely idle, pottering around going for walks and doing the garden. It's bliss.

Economically active is about generating wealth / contributing to the productivity of the country, not just spending money

The UK has a big productivity problem but what does help productivity is a healthy, educated workforce. So governments should invest in education, healthcare & transport to facilitate productivity. They haven't done that

The whole approach has been somewhat backward.

There's 800k job vacancies yet they are trying to get 11 million people into work by introducing policies that mean the private sector are having to cut back jobs and the civil service is yet again being asked to find savings in departments that have already been stripped to the bone.

Everywhere you look, despite technology supposedly making things easier, there's dar longer waiting lists to have anything done.

My 81 year old mum keeps being bounced from waiting list to waiting list because they can't work out what's wrong (it's not just old age).

I had to see my GP yesterday, I say my GP but have got a clue who he was, I filled the form in on Monday got a blind appointment, which would be OK if it was something routine. I've got a few autoimmune issues I've been managing for over 30 years but somethings gone wrong. I walked out with a fit note I didn't ask for, was asked several times if i wanted mental health support, there's nothing wrong with my mental health and a letter to my specialist. Oh fun so might be sometime 12th of never then.

Technically spending money does contribute to growth and the economy as well as the government through VAT.

As for net contributors, lots of people like to think they are but the truth is the majority of us take more out then we put in over our lives but it's also a great tool for driving division and keeping us all in check more concerned about the folk next door living the so called "high life" on benefits while share holders and politicians laugh at us all pocketing vast sums of money none of us can dream of.

Personally I think the term "economically inactive" is just a tool for governments and media to rage bait people.

The other term bandied about is net contributors but again an ageing population means a shrinking pool of net contributors.

I agree. It is a horrible term. If you spend money, you are not economically inactive.

Economically active is about generating wealth / contributing to the productivity of the country, not just spending money. If it were just about spending money then no one would be economically inactive.

I agree. It is a horrible term. If you spend money, you are not economically inactive.

Many people believe that the last government was the worst in modern history

The problem is we never recovered from the financial crash. Low interest rates masked a lot of that (& boosted assets). Companies & government didn't invest in people, services etc. The can was kicked down the road & now we have run out of road with huge gaps in public services. The government needs to raise the tax base hence why they want more economically inactive working.

Laughing at the early retirees on this thread claiming they're economically active because they're spending their pensions and savings on nice dinners. Um nope, that's not what economically active means.

Caring responsibilities (e.g. for a disabled child) don't count towards GDP which is silly because if you were caring for someone else's child and getting paid for it then it definitely would.

Personally I think the term "economically inactive" is just a tool for governments and media to rage bait people.

It's a term I only seem to see used in a negative way and is usually used in articles about benefits to give the impression there's far more claimants than there really is.

Well said 👏🏻

@Watermelonnice when they talk in sound bites they want to reduce all of them.

However we have an ageing population, this means a shrinking working base (without immigration) & more strain on health & social care because an older population means a sicker one.

Yes I know someone who needing an operation for a hernia. They can not do their job in the meantime. They are lucky that they are on a list to get it done. Some peopel are just told it wont be fixed, ever.