to ask all the skint and struggling people: what would help you the most?

[dreamingbohemian]

I think it's clear that a lot of people are struggling right now. I'm on the thread about parents going without food and it's terrible what some people are going through.

It's also clear that there are a lot of judgmental attitudes, and that the government is not all that interested in tackling the problem.

But you can also see a lot of people are sympathetic and want to help, and are horrified that we are returning to a situation where people have to go without food.

There have been a number of good ideas on that thread, but I thought it might be good to start a new thread to not just talk about the problem, but about how we can all try to do something about it -- whether it's signing petitions, putting pressure on the government, or volunteering or donating in our local communities.

So AIBU to start by asking people who are struggling right now to talk about the top one or two things that would help them out the most? So that we are not focusing our attention on things that might not be the most helpful?

Or, on the flip side, is anyone engaged in anything right now that seems to be helping a lot of people?

I don't want to just be horrified, I want to do something...

University academic.
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Bloke.

Ah, there we have the problem, otherwise I would step in.

Boffin, get yourself one of these for those essential policy chats at the urinals.

I agree with haberdashery and dreamingbohemian. I think that the political dimension of this situation is absolutely paramount.
Personally, on an individual level, I would absolutely like to pass things on, put things in re-use boxes, etc, all good ideas.
But the real power we have collectively (and when we are online having discussions like this, we are a collective entity) we absolutely must recognise that our greatest power is political, take responsibility for this, and do what we can in that dimension.

I would like to know a. how many mn-ers who are very sorry that others are poor, apparently, voted tory, and b. how many who vote tory in general understand that their economic policies are explicitly based on directing money to those who have it already (sometimes with waffle about how that will benefit society in general, waffle which has been disproved, but it's just rhetoric anyway) and c. far more importantly, if people don't know that, how to make it understood more generally?

No, not me, vezzie.

I've never voted Tory and never would.

I realised at an early age that they're never going to do enough to help poorer people.

I would like us to get away from the word 'poor' and start talking about reducing polarisation in society. The problem is that the top 2% and the bottom 25% are so incredibly far apart in every respect that society is becoming woefully damaged.

BTW I have it on good authority that men do not acknowledge each other in the bogs like women do - apparently it is a big social faux pas and is Never Done. DH and DS1 were horrified at the thought that women might actually chat as they pee, etc.

Mo Mowlem apparently even left the door open ...

There are some brilliant posts here. How I wish we really all could get together and force some kind of change in the way this is all thought about and tackled.

I have never voted Tory, btw, and would not consider doing so. However, I do think that actually there is something more important going on than the left/rightwing thing. Because while I personally would heartily prefer to be living under a leftwing government, the fact is that it's been some time since a living wage has actually meant that people in the more expensive areas of the UK (where the actual jobs they are doing are more likely to be) can live on it. The reason that our frankly enormous wages leave us scrabbling about for money is down to where we live (but we can't live anywhere else and DH still be able to do the job he loves which brings us in this income). There are a whole raft of things that have gone terribly wrong somehow (cost of childcare, transport, housing, to name but a few) and I actually am not sure how we fix it. I do agree that we don't fix it by offering tax breaks to the rich etc, but how do we? How do you tackle the fact that even working hard and doing your very best doesn't net a family enough money to live on, quite often?

I agree... I don't think it's just a political problem, but a structural one.

The Tories are a disaster but people were still struggling under Labour too.

I actually suspect that housing is at the root of the whole thing. As soon as you need two wages to cover the cost of a modest place to live (which is the case for fairly large areas of the UK), it has knock on effects on all kinds of other things such as childcare etc.

Agree that the Tories are a disaster. I do also realise that people were struggling under Labour but at least there wasn't this awful inbuilt prejudice that somehow the poor are poor because they deserve it and they've done something wrong. Maybe it's (slightly) easier to struggle on if you don't also feel like you're being told off/looked down on for struggling.

haberdashery is right, housing is at the root of the problem.

we've spent 6mnths homeless after the house we rented had to be sold due to the owners business failing.

we were finally housed and we got a letter yesterday that the charity whom housed us and got us our tennancy is closing in the next week due to the government cutting there funding, i feel sick. I have no idea what will happen to us now.

Don't have time to read the entire thread but...

1. Myself and partner are living very meagrely at the moment. He works as a gravedigger for the council, I was trying to be a SAHM but it's just not financially viable. I have just found work and terrified it will leave us worse off in the long run with lack of Tax Credits etc - not got my first paycheck so I can't estimate how much it will differ till I call them with my new pay details. If that were more transparent, easier to understand, and they stopped moving the goalposts every year, that would help a lot.

1. Cheaper food.

1. A rebate on fuel tax, or some sort of scheme (like in the Highlands and islands) that made it cheaper for my partner to get to work each day (currently £200+ a month for him to fuel the car for work each day). We don't live in a city, he starts too early to catch a bus, and if he didn't work we would be under that breadline you mentioned.

P.S. - I am not at the stage of having to choose between feeding myself or my kids, but if I were, I think I would cancel the internet first?!

For anyone in need with a little girl, I have a ton of baby girls' clothing up to 1.5 years for collection or to post. Please PM me if interested.

Getting rid of the Tories once and for all for ever would be a great place to start.

no one on this thread, which is about helping people, has piped up pro-tory, which a. makes me feel like a bit of an arse for being so sanctimonious above about the politics of this situation (they want to help their friends, DO YOU SEE?) for which I apologise; and b. makes it all the clearer that tories don't give a shit about anyone. so much for Big Society. If there were any tory voters on this thread, ie, any tory voters wondering how to help people in shit, they would have piped up. but no, there aren't any.

I will admit to having voted lib dem. I hadn't realised they were Tories in sheeps clothing and I'm bloody ashamed of them/it.

I got the idea this thread wasn't just about going the Tories are shit but more going the Tories are doing this shit, please sign this petition against it.

You're right - now we're here, we have to focus on what to do next.

I voted Lib Dem, too (we are in a Tory/Lib Dem ward and there seemed little point in voting Labour). But a chap came round from them to ask me to complete a survey recently and I made a point of telling him that I didn't want to do the survey because I think that the Lib Dems have comprehensively proved that they don't care what the people who voted them in think. I also told him that I will not be voting Lib Dem next time, and I won't. I will vote but I will vote either Green or Labour, depending on what happens between now and then. It does help that the particular Tory MP that we have has spoken out against the government on a few issues so I feel he's not as bad as he might be.

And I think the point is, about this thread and the other one about people having to go without proper meals to feed their children adequately, that the whole system is so fucked up that actually even if you or I might prefer a leftwing government it doesn't make any difference to the basic problem which is that it is now incredibly hard to survive on an average wage without help (whether that be tax credits, housing benefit or people like those posting here who want to offer something from their own resources). That problem remains unaddressed by any party, as far as I can see.

If I thought I knew what to do to fix it, quite frankly I would think of starting a campaign or a new political party or something. But I don't. I'm not an economist and I don't have the in-depth knowledge required to work out what to do alone.

I voted Lib Dem too - I come from a line of proud Lib Dem folk (my Grandad was a local LD councillor for many years until recently and he's more than heartbroken at the effect Nick Clegg has had on the party he's spent his life working for). I will never vote Lib Dem again, not solely on their leader's actions but also on our local LD MP who has acted shamefully since being voted back in.

Personally, transport costs would save us a lot of money, DH has to travel a 4 hr round trip for work (no jobs in his field any closer), and train ticket prices are enough to send me grey!

haberdashery, it is true that for the majority a living wage (relative to true costs of living) is hard or impossible to achieve, but this is not an apolitical issue.
It is true that the traditional left has let us down, but it is not just a natural accident like the weather, that costs are so high and relative incomes so low.

I just think it's gone beyond being a party political issue. I don't see that any of the political parties are addressing this at all. Tax credits etc are just a way of propping up a situation which has somehow become unsustainable. We need to somehow make it possible for people earning an average wage to actually live on that money and I cannot see how it can be done, with housing costs as they are. Bringing down house prices wouldn't help either. Surely you'd just get tons of people trapped in unsuitable housing that they couldn't sell because of negative equity?

Obviously housing is not the only issue, but I think it is quite a major one.

Peoples attitudes to those in need are quite disgusting. I know it's bad form to discuss other threads but I don't care.

There is a thread in active convos where a mother has said when her sick baby was discharged from hospital the doctors told her to give him calpol as well as prescribed drugs. She asked for a prescription, the doctors refused. She had a choice to pay for a taxi to take her baby home or buy calpol. She is being criticised for her poor money management skills. Whilst there are people with this attitude, things will never improve for struggling families.

Here are the main problems for families, with some policy suggestions.

1. High housing costs.

• These could be reduced in various ways, for example reduced council tax rates for families with children, stamp duty reduction if people are moving because of the birth/adoption of a baby (or children leaving home and consequent downsizing), or moving in elderly parents for care purposes (like there is for disability now).

• Even more controversially, taxing the profits when you sell your house rather than having any stamp duty at all, unless you have lived in your house 7 years or longer (as in Germany), which discourages people 'flipping' properties, etc. (Obv there would need to be concessions for people relocating for work purposes, or in the case of changed family size).

• For those renting, rent controls and/or more investment in social housing so working families can live somewhere decent near work and school (surprisingly enough requires little subsidy if local authority 'land banks' are fully exploited - you would be amazed at what they have access to for little or no cost).

• National minimum space and design standards for new homes built or converted by private developers, identical to those that already exist in the public sector. More aggressive planning gain legislation.

1. Affordable childcare.

• Either make childcare fully tax deductible for families where both parents are working full time, or make it free for all over 2's, with generous maternity leave for parents with children under 2. Aim would be to get everyone seeing work as a realistic option, especially if they have qualifications/training behind them.

• Set a national tariff for work-related group childcare costs (banded A, B and C, like London weighting) and oblige local authorities to make sure this is provided when and where parents need it, with sanctions if it isn't (like school places). Home child carers would need to professionalise and have their own home childcare national tariff as well, along the same lines.

1. Long working hours culture.

• Work to reduce commuting times by offering incentives to employers to improve relocation packages and make them more readily available.

• Implement EU 48-hour working week legislation very strictly (eg if you are sent away overnight, count all the travelling and hanging about hours as well as working ones, and stop people being able to sign opt-outs).

• Re-nationalise rail network and invest in better commuter transport, with linked buses for areas without rail services.

How's that for a start.