When does the "Cost of living crisis end"

[topcat2014]

There will always be inflation. The media created this thing called a cost of living crisis.

Recessions have a technical definition, so therefore a technical end.

What is going to be the trigger for society agreeing the cost of living crisis is over?

We’ve had a big rise in population and an even bigger rise in the number of households. We need to build for more houses but unfortunately we also have an economy that has been fuelled by higher house prices. For a while people felt rich but the affordability has collapsed. We won’t accept falling prices so we need wage growth to catch up but that’s not going to happen any time soon. Houses were cheap in the mid-90s after a drop in real terms of around a third from their 1980s peak. Any time anything like that has looked likely to happen these days, the government has intervened with some scheme or other.

Put simply, we need to bring back shame.
This is aimed at families with children, NOT pensioners or disabled
Can't budget? Here, have free food and power from a food bank
Haven't bought food for your kids? Have a holidays food voucher and breakfast club
Can't work out how to use your heating effectively (eg two hours morning and evening) Just leave it on and the energy company will write it off or risk the wrath of baying FBers
Can't afford days out? Yes you can , UC claimants can visit many places for next to nothing (while working families can't afford it)
Can't budget for toiletries? Hygiene bank
Can't budget for baby stuff? Baby bank

All if these situations (except the heating - brought up in 1970s family LOL) were me about 8 years ago and i would have been MORTIFIED to admit i could't buy food so we ate lots of potatoes, pasta and puddings to fill us cheaply.
Not being able to cook, not having time etc don't wash. The more excuses are made, the more people will mosy down to the food bank and spend the money on nice things or sit on FB swaddled in blankets displaying how 'vulnerable' they are.
People who feel shame work hard to find creative solutions. People who are happy to display their lack of gettibg their shit together will carry on weeping and wailing as there are now so, so many people to say 'isn't it awful, it's not your fault, let's get you some more money to buy food and keep your (free) house warm at no cost to you. You keep spending on what you like as it's intrusive/unkind/bullying to question it. You hungry child is YOUR fault but let's not say that because, children.
I am not saying people who rely on benefits should not budget and buy nice things but i do have an issue with those who buy booze/vapes/takeaways/nights out/nails/ fancy phones or anything else non essential then hold out the begging bowl for food and heat.
Shame keeps a lot of things in check.

Im not confused at all
Im talking about gobshites who dont work draining the country dry
They dont work and add to society, they dont pay tax,they claim benefits to sit and do FA
Meanwhile workers do a job and pay tax, whilst struggling with bills

Im not talking about pensioners , you are
The vast majority of pensioners have worked all their lives, why shouldnt we support them in old age
Fucks sake its not that hard!

Absolutely this!

Fucks sake it’s not that hard!

Exactly! so what are you still not grasping?! 😆

Or we could just bring back more social housing for them as we did in the past!

Excuses no 1
People on UC get a lot of their rent paid anyway, so while i agree with you, lack of social housing is not the reason people are happy to take and take then want more.

Why has this thread descended into benefit bashing? I thought it was about the CoL crisis and what signs would indicate it is over.
This thread has seeming turned into blaming people on UC for how much your pint of milk and fuel costs now.

Yes so true, you wandered along the high street and left your number

I am not benefits bashing but nice try to shut the conversation down.
I was responding to a post saying the 'cost of living crisis' will only end when people stop relying on benefits and handouts.
OK with you?

Agree with this. I have every sympathy with people who can't find work but zero sympathy for those who expect to be funded by those who do work.

It was not about benefits though.
How are people on UC making food and fuel more expensive? You do realise that the costs have gone up for them too.

But the increasing welfare bill does mean there is no financial room to bring down taxes.

If anything they will increase.

So there is a connection.

But it really doesn’t matter when bills are still increasing and wages stagnant.

And of course other factors influence prices much more immediately.

Although in some areas you could be forgiven to thinking what cost of living crisis? Theatre shows are sold out, travel revenue continues to increase. So people are spending disposable income.

We pay more tax than we should because of the benefits bill.
We pay more for our energy to cover 'hardship funds' for those who don't pay
We pay more for utilities to cover social tariffs
Leaving us with less money to pay for ourselves.

Cmon then!
Explain

Yes I know

Not true.

Taxes whether it be tobacco tax, alcohol tax, sugar tax, speeding fines (are a form of taxation) act to discourage behaviour.

Subsidies / grants or other payments from the government such as EV grants, first time buyer grants, heat pump grants, solar subsidies etc etc act to encourage behaviour.

So if you increase income tax or NI and at the same time increase welfare payments / PIP etc then don't be surprised when more people choose to either stop working, work less hours or retire early.

Yes but any reference to this is shut down with accusations of 'benefits bashing'
For some reason, many MNetters are blind to this.

Nail on the head there! We’ve been disincentivising work through relatively higher taxation for workers and incentivising not working by an overly generous benefits system, discounts for non workers, etc. Then we wonder why there are ever fewer workers funding the growing number of non workers.

How so?

Exactly
Was beginning to think the world had gone mad
We cannot have a system where perfectly able people dont work or reduce their working hours "cos benefits"
Its insanity to think this can continue

Yes and have a party in power where McFadden’s line is the case and it gets worse.

Other countries have much cheaper water, gas and electricity prices and lower housing costs.
yes we can benefit bash but if people had access to cheaper better housing and cheaper energy it would reduce the cost of living for everyone.
Water costs were 50p per cubic meter in 2022 it’s now £2.50 and I’m not in a really expensive area.
electricity has not been below 22p a unit. Many other countries are 10p a unit. And it’s down to how it’s generated and sold
Benefit bashing suits those in control and it keeps people from looking at what they’re doing.

I'm so surprised so many people have swallowed this. There is a specific and definite aim by billionaire funded far right interests to get us all to think that this is the reason for our problems.

Why would you not start with the massive drain of value and ownership out of the country towards private equity? It's a thing nobody knows about and it is more costly to our long term interests than the benefits bill

It's because it's more complicated to understand than "Brenda down the road says she has anxiety but I don't believe her".

And - most importantly- it's because there is a systematic misinformation campaign. Not everyone is consciously colluding in it but enough bad faith actors have "seeded" it that these attitudes are now "present in the mainstream" so much of the media now thinks it has to honour and reflect these views. And so they are propagated further and people come to believe them.

Take last week. Gov publishes a clear and really thorough study that says autistic people need more help earlier. The headlines are all "Autism and adhd over-diagnosis, says report!" This is a literal falsehood, this it not the finding of the report, it's the opposite. But it adds to that worried feeling of "freeloaders are eating my lunch!"

Please think about your information diet and who funds it - it's the biggest threat to our agency and democracy that there is.

By the way - you know the main thing that keeps people from sliding into depression and anxiety? it's AGENCY OVER THEIR LIVES. If we all felt our views counted more and services and authorities responded to us in more mature ways then we could get somewhere as a nation.