Errr London ..... yep, my life isn't "as nice as I want it to be". Same as it is for 100s of 1000s of other families.
Actually, I don't get any state help other than child benefit ... as another poster (or posters) said previously, I was scared to apply for tax credits after reading all the horror stories about mess ups and claw backs, or indeed the scenario of getting used to a certain level of income then having it taken away all of a sudden - as is happening now. In that respect I'm relatively lucky that we could - just about - manage, but not without a great deal of budgeting and doing without the sort of thing which many people wouldn't think twice about. Obviously .... now that the cost of living is rocketting things are getting much much harder. This isn't about "nice" .... it's about being able to afford to live to a basic, decent standard and NOT effectively being ostracised from mainline society because you can't afford to partake in it. I'm not even talking about some sort of "entitlement" to nights out for example, but, as I mentioned before, being able to afford dental care when you need it. Or being able to travel further than the confines of where your legs will take you - because you can't afford recreational petrol or public transport ..... so you can visit and support ageing parents for example.
My partner and I both work - but just like so many others, what we earn is not enough to live a basically comfortable life. That is a ridiculous state of affairs and I do consider the gap between wages (for many working people) and the cost of living to be the state's problem because exactly what more are we supposed to do to earn more money and make our lives better when there are no more hours to be had, a dearth of alternative jobs and a lack of affordable retraining (notwithstanding whether or not that if we all retrained for better/newer skills and qualifications there wouldn't suddenly be sparkling new jobs for all of us just like that anyway).
I'll tell you what we've done so we're not the state's problem .... what we did/do to maximise our income and minmise childcare expenses. For many years DP and I worked opposite shifts - like ships that pass in the night. I worked 7 days a week for years. We had practically no time at all together as a couple and were rarely all together as a family. It's been hugely damaging in ways you can't imagine. In the last five years, I have taken ..... ummmm .... about 14 days annual leave. Because I don't get paid if I don't work and because when things are already difficult I dreaded the thought of losing more and having to make it up. I had no choice - because I couldn't find another job - but to take a 7.5% pay cut last year. I feel run into the ground.
But hey - this isn't all about me. Far from it. I despair when I read about how other families live. Families who'll shortly see their incomes slashed. Families affected by disability and illness for example who quite literally can't work even if they wanted to. Other families who desperately want to work but for whom there's nothing. In as much my partner and I still have a job we are "lucky" compared to them .... I was simply trying to describe how working - bloody hard, and anti-social hours - doesn't necessarily provide a basic, decent standard of living for many any longer. That should bloody well be the state's problem - because in a so called civilised society being able to afford to live - without choosing between heating/eating, and without running yourself ragged isn't an unreasonable expectation for someone who's earning their own money. Similarly, people who can't work - either because they're physically unable or, because there aren't enough jobs to go round shouldn't have to live hand to mouth. Again, that should be the state's "problem" - taking care of people who need a bit of support is the humane thing to do.
What else do you bloody suggest London? When people are doing all they can to help themselves and things still don't add up ? Should they beg ? Should they be totally reliant on charity ? Should they just jump off a tall building ? Should they pray for a 21st century Black Death which would wipe out a third of the population and free up some jobs ?