Fuck it - the government will look me

That's what I thought as well. Thanks.

The way the grooming gang survivors has been treated is a really good example of how the state treats some people very badly. One survivor, Jade, gave an interview with Maggie Oliver. She has never, ever received any NHS counselling (she's apparently been on a 'waiting list' for years). She got it through the Maggie Oliver foundation and now has recovered sufficiently to speak out. But the state has never, ever given her any means to make her life better after failing her so criminally as a child.

Should I just spend my money, move into a smaller house and quit my job. At this point I think I’d be better off.

Please can you demonstrate how?
I was made redundant in Sept. I have been unable to find work. I am a lone parent with a 16 yo at home. If I don't find work before my assets go below £16,000 I will be entitled to claim UC. It will not be enough to support my home (small mortgage) and child. I will lose my small home and my car and then I guess we'll be housed.
Yes the government will look after us and I'm glad we live in a country that provides welfare for those who are struggling, but in no single way will I bet better off. My future looks very bleak. I am 55 and have been working all my adult life.

You say ‘the government will look after them’, and I say it’s not the government doing that, it’s taxpayers. The government has no money - it’s ours.
I think it is pretty evident that as a world (not just our nation) we are all becoming more and more selfish. Taxpayer ‘handouts’ are going to stop, and quite soon I think. Governments that ‘give away’ taxpayer money rather than spending it on public services that benefit the taxpayer will stop winning elections. The State Pension is entering its final throes- “those receiving it now didn’t fight in World Wars; they can look after themselves” will become a prevailing attitude.

Anyone NOT planning to look after themselves into old age now, is in for a world of pain.

But I hear academics say austerity from the Tories was bad, they should have done stimulus

My understanding is it was the combo of austerity & low interest rates. The cuts to public service did not need to be so deep, there was no investment in anything. Private businesses also stopped investing because money was cheap so less need. People didn't notice their wages were not growing because housing was cheap & their house was going up in value. You need investment in infrastructure & people to facilitate future growth.

Where are you planning to move to that offers you this choice?

Why do you say you think life is 90% controllable and then proceed to describe all the ways in which is NOT controllable, with reasonable accuracy? Do you even believe what you're saying, OP? You shouldn't, it's nonsense.

Thanks for the "jargon buster" though 😂

Totally agree. I'm stuck in a low paid job and treated like shit (and incidentally illegally) by my employer. I don't have the money to take them to Employment Tribunal though I'm sure I'd win if I could. I have multiple caring responsibilities and get fuck all help from the state. In terms of the caring the ONLY thing they do is make life harder for me and my family.

I routinely feel like a fucking idiot for behaving legally when all around me there are burglaries not even investigated let alone prosecuted. Tons of cars and vans on the road without MOT, tax etc which all get reported to my local FB group and police but nothing ever done. But I'm drowning in fees and taxes.

I feel like a total idiot for obeying the law when seemingly loads of people (the 1% and the general grifters) are getting rich off me and other decent people.

Unfortunately parent of living in a free country is that you have to put up with stupid people voting in a Government that has broken the country before. So it will be this time, and we are all penalised

What was the subject? Student loan debt is still a big number on the UK balance sheet.

Could the solution here be to encourage employers through tax incentives to train staff, through part time Uni, one day a week? They get you working, you pay tax and no further increase to student loan debt.

It would appear there is now saturation in the Grad marketplace and many students are doing a masters, simply because they can't get a Grad job.

The Result - increase in students personal debt, increase in Gov student debt, more competition for limited jobs. However we can't build affordable houses because there is a cost of scare tradesman. A London based construction worker will easily earn £50k p.a and usually it's on the job training so no student debt.

Ive mentioned these as the Op was looking for solutions, rather than a blunt instrument of raising tax.

Maybe you should be more specific if you want to have this conversation. Worried how?

Having children as a woman certainly does edit your potential choices in ways you don't/can't expect before you 'choose' to have them, but it is not the only way that people are shaped by society. Just using a well worn expression like 'nanny state' shows me your are not immune to that.

There is an expression we use round where I live which ran through my head when I read the OP's origninal post: "what are you on with?" which basically means I can't understand what you are talking about .

What policies would you actually like to see OP? I think people are missing the point because you haven’t said what you think the government should be doing. Personally I think ensuring everyone has access to housing is a huge one. Not just by building more genuinely affordable homes (not “affordable” as determined by developers when they’re anything but) but imposing a cap on how much house prices can rise by and limiting how many properties any individual can own. I don’t think many people would vote for that though.

As for your “I might as well just move to a smaller house and spend it” well, yes? I’m a high earner but I choose to stay in my one-bed London flat rather than upsizing, and I choose to stay doing slightly sporadic freelance consultancy at high rates than go full time, because I want my time to be mine and my money spent on as much travel as I can fit in. It’s never occurred to me to do it any other way and I don’t really understand the mentality of giving your whole life to work just to afford a bigger house and car that you never have time to enjoy anyway because you’re always working.

So should the Tories have done austerity or not?

I’m in two minds really. Overall, if you are a middle income worker who is able to pay into a work pension you will more than likely have a better life overall than someone on benefits.

Of course there are degrees of this - a 3 hour commute in all weather versus not working and just getting up when you like. Paying ££££s in child care versus looking after your own DC and getting “free” nursery hours etc etc. Bug if anyone wants to live solely on benefits, they presumably can stop working and do so???

What does annoy me though is the homogeneous “pensioners” that must be looked after at all costs. Some pensioners are poor, some are rich. But you can be a work shy man/woman your whole life and people resent you for being a benefits scrounger then you hit 65 and suddenly your a vulnerable soul that must be looked after! Does my head in.

Wish I knew that the answer is but one thing is for certain -we must look to cut welfare/benefits costs in some way. That is completely unsustainable.

They have made such a mess of it that I genuinely believe the only way out is universal income (yes universal!) and a tax rate of 50% on all wages.

But I hear academics say austerity from the Tories was bad, they should have done stimulus

@Poppingby you mentioned a lot about choices being dictated by society, which frankly I find really worrying

I'm wondering if that's a common view

i'm a single child free woman for a start so perhaps I'm not designed to be affected too much by societal pressure

The nanny state that I worried about (under Tony Blair) may have come home to roost... along with a bunch of other problems that track back to there.

I need you to really focus on what I say here.

You clearly have children, so you have experienced how having children makes things harder. Therefore you're willing to accept they make things harder. Despite children and when you have them being a choice (fwiw my background and unwillingness to raise kids in poverty meant we waited until our 30s to have kids, which almost meant we couldn't have them and for others will mean they can't have them, your privilege sings from you)

You don't realise how much of a safety net you've been afforded from birth by having middle class parents.

You don't realise how much worrying about poverty puts you in a stressed headspace as a child and effects your whole life even when the poverty is overcome

You don't realise the disadvantages others face because eyouev not faced them.

Now take your knowledge that being a parent makes things harder, narrows choices and just extrapolate that thought process to how childhood poverty, abuse, disability. Lack of educational support, leaning difficulties etc etc etc make things harder.

You will then see most people's lives are no 90% choice. For the privileged few like yourself they are.

what I see right now is disabled people remaining in poverty with very little opportunity to get out of that position. Few choices

have a think about what it might mean to be disabled. For some, a simple adjustment like a ramp to the door or a hearing loop installed might be enough to keep someone in work. However, for others, life is complex, ruled by pain, medical appointments, medication regimes, associated therapies, flair ups, frequent night waking etc etc. For these people, being an employee is difficult - both for the employer and employee. You want to be reliable but can’t get out of bed today? You want to be reliable but your hospital consultant wants to see you weekly for the foreseeable? How does this impact on business need? Lots of employers are sympathetic but can’t risk an employee they need to pay full time but who might go through months of only being able to realistically work half the time.

You cannot work consistently well when in pain or on 2 hours sleep. Having a disability limits your choices. There is legislation to try to combat this but it is a tough thing to negotiate, wherever you are standing. More flexibility is required in the workplace, absolutely, but that must be balanced with buisness need as well. No easy answers.

More people, including pensioners, taking from the UK purse, it's been a steady shift in this direction over the last 20 years. This isn't supposed to make those in need defensive as solutions have to be found.

@Phonicshaskilledmeoff that is the issue