To be absolutely sick of hearing about the cost of living crisis

I'm not the one who brought up zoos. Zoos are irrelevant overall because they are not so fashionable any longer. Kids now expect a lot more than just a place to look at animals. They want places with play areas and unhealthy food to eat.

Who would deny that there are more expensive entertainment options for kids nowadays than there were 40 years ago, even 20 years ago?

A lot of flash cars are monthly payment, if Iran is not sorted soon the real COL crisis will hit, ECB expected to raise rates at the next meeting I hear. The "food banks" narrative was getting tedious, they seem to have switched to just general COL now.

They’d go camping to Wales usually. She means abroad holidays.
No idea about the chippies but she said most of the working class families she knew couldn’t afford it regularly. It certainly wasn’t a weekly thing for the families she knew and for her family it was a treat usually for someone’s birthday.
They were proper working class.

@ladyrinths, I read plenty thank you and observe much.

Like the OP, those who I hear moaning about how hard life is and how they can't save are also the same who spend on the most frivolous things. They definitely don't come across as very credible.

No Triple Lock, if you didn't save for your old age, you ended up in the Workhouse.

But that is the result of capitalism / consumerism.

Child centric marketing is huge business.

If you want to delve into how we got here, it's worth looking at Edward Bernays, the grandfather of marketing / propaganda.

Our psychology is ruthlessly weaponised against us to proliferate the capitalist model.

Well a dog can't get a job to feed its family or go on benefits. Or go to a local food bank.

Classic MN detail that we are now arguing about zoos 🤣

I will just put my two pence in though and lots of zoos across the UK are closing/struggling and several have been found to no longer meet certain animal welfare standards in the last few years.

Relevant to the thread, this is mostly due to the increasing operational costs, especially energy and food - which are obviously things that cannot be compromised in a zoo when animals need certain conditions. On top of this, many zoos report a decrease in footfall - people are cutting costs and things like days out are the first to go.

@Passaggressfedup Inknow you are speaking from the experience of the zoo near you. Perhaps it’s a particularly well established on or people on your area just love a zoo? 🤣

Well our benefits bill is soaring

Largely down to an ageing population

Absolutely not.

Higher salaries in London and much more free stuff. Lots of places in NW UK (where I am) are starting to actually look war-torn, and a big part of the problem is politicians and bien pensants never venturing north of the Watford Gap.

No doubt there are some people out there, who would welcome going back to those practices, before any public assistance is granted.

I grew up in a house that only ever had one warm room in the winter. That was heated by a coal fire so probably not the answer for today. Today’s central heating makes it more difficult to only heat one room but not impossible.

Back in the day, if you wanted "Public Assistance", they sent someone around to see if you had anything to sell, first. All the neighbours would see the furniture being taken out of a house.

Wow. Prepare to get flamed, OP. And, in my opinion, rightly so!

Well our benefits bill is soaring. They were interviewing someone on the news this morning who was complaining about the cost of living and she had 5 children. Yes, they could all have been unplanned, yes, she perhaps chose unwisely with the Fathers.

The young people with the flashy cars probably have their cars on PCP and live at home. 1 in 9 young people not in education or working yet in my local high street there are signs in the window looking for staff.

As I said @Passaggressfedup you need to read more…

or expand on your sources because your claims are not representative.

Only about 10% of 17 yr olds have a license and the number who have cars will be lower 🙄

and the big one you are completely overlooking is that people in previous generations chose the biggest expense ever, more dc. People aren’t making that choice today
....who didn't get spoilt as kids are nowadays. Previous generation kids entertained themselves by being creative. They didn't go on foreign holidays every summers or more. They didn't have the amount of clothes and shoes kids have nowadays. They didn't do 3 or more activities a week. They didn't get Christmas, Easter, Halloween outfits etc...

Teenagers didn't get their parents to buy them a car at 17 or spent £100s on proms.

We spend so much more on our children than the last and second generations ago.

My Nan says that in her day most people didn’t go on holidays, they saved up to buy a sofa or TV for a house, even if it meant you used hand-me down garden furniture for months and an old radio.

Not even on a seaside holiday?

A chippie tea was a treat once or twice a year.

How did 35000 fish & chip shops in the 20s & 30s survive if people went twice a year?!

It’s free in London for children under a certain age (I think 10) for trains and busses. I thought it would be the same everywhere?

Hmm, your money is going somewhere.

Quite agree that the moaning is tiresome. The COLC is however real. People should stop meaning and DO something. Participate in local schemes aimed at helping, write to your MP, vote in local elections (how many of those moaning actually voted on 7th May, I wonder).
World events and former governments are being blamed for the crisis, but the answer lies in the here and now with the government and councils that we have. Make sure they know who we hold responsible and that we are relying on them to come up with a solution.

@Passaggressfedup how do I quantify what?

That zoos were popular in the Victorian times or that younger generations spend more on housing.?

I can post links but I suggest you read more…

I am not a MC earner or on the basic living amount, somewhere in the middle.
I am definitely feeling the squeeze.
I have given up the nail salon, most fun days out, lunches out, the increase in food prices, activities, electricity, heating, housing has knocked the shit out of us, we were able to live and enjoy some treats in the past, now I’m not even saving.
I tried to save in April while trying to keep up. We had Easter, 3 cousin birthday presents, School tour payments May x 2, everything costs money.

My Nan says that in her day most people didn’t go on holidays, they saved up to buy a sofa or TV for a house, even if it meant you used hand-me down garden furniture for months and an old radio.
A chippie tea was a treat once or twice a year.
If you had a car, it was an old car that you lovingly kept on the road as long as possible.
There were certainly no soft play centres and activities for kids. You entertained them in the garden or the park.

People have got used to having everything. Buying on finance or credit. Big holidays abroad. They buy a house and instantly want to be able to furnish the whole thing. Weddings are huge affairs that cost thousands. My mums wedding reception was a homemade buffet at Nan’s house!

The world has gone crazy.

@Passaggressfedup and the big one you are completely overlooking is that people in previous generations chose the biggest expense ever, more dc. People aren’t making that choice today.