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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder why the govt are not doing anything about the spiralling cost of living?

264 replies

dirtyface · 08/09/2013 10:27

they are making cuts left right and centre, but IMO are not looking at the bigger picture which is the REAL reason people are so skint. ie because of the cost of living ie food, gas, electric, (my particular bugbear) petrol Angry , housing, local taxation.

this is why people are not spending money on the high street etc. its cos no bugger has got any disposable income after they have been fleeced every month paying for the essentials. i for one spend a good proportion of my earnings on petrol, so does dh and i am sure i speak for many people

obviously i am mostly talking about mr and mrs average joe on average incomes, ie, say min wage to about 30k or so. but am sure the higher earners are squeezed as well esp with them cutting off CB and tax credits etc after a certain income

whats going to happen? is it just going to keep going up and up. it scares me

disclaimer: i don't understand how any of this works so sorry if i sound thick. there is probably some clever obvious reason why "they" cant sort the cost of living out a bit

OP posts:
WetAugust · 08/09/2013 23:14

People are already campaigning for a 'real living wage'.

Talkinpeace · 08/09/2013 23:16

Living costs will only drop when house prices crash - but so many people would be made homeless by that
that the social security network would collapse
so the government will keep interest rates low and hope that they do not

eretrew · 08/09/2013 23:23

What eactly do you want them to do? The global oil price and European gas price are far beyond the control of the Government. Similarly the minimum wage cannot just be hiked up either as you would grossly overvalue low skilled workers and in so doing damage the competitiveness of the companies and industries in which they work.

williaminajetfighter · 08/09/2013 23:23

I honestly think the government believes the best thing is to be hands off: with the utility companies, with the cost of living and wages and even with local authorities who are just finding new ways to cover their costs.

The one thing the govt DOES care about is the housing market. The banks own the majority of properties and a crash in the market could result in a crash at the banks - something Dave wants to avoid.

I think we also have to accept that the global economy changes out fortunes and some levelling out is taking/will take place.

WetAugust · 08/09/2013 23:31

I don't buy the global economy argument. There are plenty of countries where wages are much lower than ours that still need to buy energy in the global market and do so without hyperinflating wages.

It's really quite convenient for major companies posting huge profits to pay minimum wages in the knowledge that the Govt will top them up to a living wage. As a tax payer I resent being asked to contribute to a company's profit in this way.

PaulSmenis · 08/09/2013 23:32

I really struggle to understand how someone can work a 40 hour week and NOT be paid a wage they can live on. There's something very wrong with the whole set up. Fair enough, these people may do unskilled work, but do people seriously think the country could cope without people doing it? Surely everyone deserves a living wage and a decent standard of life and I'm certain that these low paid people claiming tax credits aren't spanking their money on fags, booze and massive televisions.

Crumbledwalnuts · 08/09/2013 23:33

258 for council tax is a lot - what political eprsuasion is your council?

the govt are trying to raise people out of paying tax - that's one thing

Crumbledwalnuts · 08/09/2013 23:34

MrsCog is right: raise wages and the cost of living will rise further. Think about how much clothes cost when you buy ethically.

WetAugust · 08/09/2013 23:36

Raising the personal threshold to as little as £10K is a token step. It should at least £15K. Paying tax on earnings as little as £10,001 pa is frankly obscene.

Crumbledwalnuts · 08/09/2013 23:38

WetAugust: don't forget the government does need to pay for "stuff" and Labour left it no money so to do. It's raising teh allowances slowly but surely. And the tax rate under the last Labour govt was 40p for most of it (higher band obi) and tax allowances were lower.

eretrew · 08/09/2013 23:40

There is no such thing as a living wage though, your labour is valued relative to your ability to produce value to whatever you are doing, the price of housing/food/utilites etc plays no part in this valuation. With globalisation leading to a global division of labour why should someone in England be paid more than someone in another country doing the same job to the same level of competency.

WetAugust · 08/09/2013 23:43

Yes Crumbled - small improvements and the £10K was driven by the Lib/Dems.

Don't mistake me for a Labour supporter - I am far from being one of those.

It appears to me that the pendulum has swung too far now that Unions have lost most of their power and membership and we are heading back to the days of exploitation - zero hours contracts etc.

Freemilk · 09/09/2013 00:04

not convinced lots of people would be homeless if house prices crashed TBH, there would still be the same number of houses and the same number of people, there would be a shift in the ownership of a fair few (but that might be a good thing).
after all the previous house price corrections havn't seen loads of people sleeping on the streets

coco27 · 09/09/2013 00:32

ha ha ha ha ha !!
Oh sorry you are being serious.This is a tory government!Do you think they care about anyone except those at the very very top of the tree!

ShellyBoobs · 09/09/2013 02:26

It's a global issue, not a UK one.

What do you think should be done about the situation, OP?

There is very little that can be done to change things without having a negative effect elsewhere - for every penny that goes from one tax stream (e.g. reducing fuel tax) there will have to be a penny added elsewhere.

That's why governments (not just ours) tinker around the edges, mostly, trying to appease as many people as possible at any given time.

The global economy has been artificially propped up by credit for decades and that was bound to come crashing down eventually.

On average, the UK population isn't productive enough for everyone to have the standard of living they think they deserve. People have to come to expect a standard of living that is, frankly, unrealistic.

The harsh reality is that for the average person, their work isn't "worth" the standard of living they now expect to have.

JayPunker · 09/09/2013 02:49

It's quite simple, really. Government loves to have people panic. It helps them win elections as people need guidance. As for the cost of living, you can blame Thatcher for that. After world war 2, some great people decided that we, the British public, would never struggle so much to get by. So utility companies and public transports were to remain cheap, rising adequately with each inflation. But along came Thatcher who privatized everything, hence all the soaring costs. And every subsequent government has sought to penalize the poor and reward the rich

Crumbledwalnuts · 09/09/2013 06:30

I don't assume anything about anyone personally, but the zeitgeist of MN is default Labour / left-wing support so I do tend to put my flag in the ground early. Not driven by the LibDems: they wanted it too but the Tories are the party that has historically believed that low tax and keeping the pound in the earner's pocket was the way ahead. It seems more mumsnetters are agreeing with this now, which is good. I don't think the Tories want people to antic. Labour did, hence the 45 pe rte and all that. I think the Tories just want people piling along ok.

Bodicea · 09/09/2013 07:32

Living wages dont work. Over simplified: If a business has to pay its staff more then they have to increase prices. Cost of living goes up. Therefore living wages not with as much anymore. The cycle goes on.
The cost of living is high due to global factors not all within governments control. If drop taxes on things like petrol there is even less money in the pot. less money to spend on healthcare, education benefits etc. and you will get a load of people ranting about that. Raise more taxes just of the rich? Then they will all just bugger off elsewhere as other countries are only to happy to accommodate them. Again globalisation is the problem. and there will be even less money in the pot. No simple answers i am afraid.

Tortington · 09/09/2013 07:44

what shuld the govt do?

stop letting the rich get away with everything , collect the taxes, raise the taxes for the rich.

the argument that they will leave the country is a misnoma

Binkybix · 09/09/2013 08:42

The £10k tax threshold is absolutely a LibDem policy and implementing it has been driven by them too.

I see what people are getting at re workers wages increasing leading to increased prices - but the salaries of those at the top of companies have increased multiple times those of the workers' across the board, without a notable increase in performance of companies they lead. Obvs Gvt doesn't have power to do much about this now though.

Ultimately it's a difficult one because most people not affected by it with the power to do anything (not just politicians) don't care.

stubbornstains · 09/09/2013 08:45

I seem to recall businesses huffing and puffing and screaming blue murder when the NMW was introduced. It would never work, it would push prices through the roof, it would cause businesses to fail........

Generally, it didn't. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

PaulSmenis · 09/09/2013 08:52

I don't know, but some people are really struggling to run their cars and many need them to get to work. Unless you live in a place with a good public transport network you really do need your car. What if people end up forced off the roads and jobless?

passmetheprozac · 09/09/2013 09:14

IMHO the cost of living needs to come down rather than wages rise. If wages rise the cost of living will go up, if not directly then indirectly.

I have given up buying a house. So I will spend the rest of my life in rented accommodation. I believe rent controls need to be brought in, long term rents need to be more available, and landlord responsibility and culpability needs to be lessened.

Landlords are constantly saying that uk renters are some of the most well protected renters in the world. That may be with regards to health and safety, however I would much rather pay for repairs in the knowledge that the rug isn't going to be pulled from under my feet in 6 months. I really hope the buy to let bubble bursts.

stubbornstains · 09/09/2013 09:25

passmetheprozac

"Landlords" are talking utter bollocks. "Some of the most well protected renters in the world". Snort.

racmun · 09/09/2013 09:29

Something that really stands out for me is my FIL who is 63. He's been in the same job the whole of his life and never climbed the career pole. You could say therefore that his wages have just risen in line with the market. He only earns about £25k now.

Anyway he owns his house outright worth about £300k (paid his mortgage off a couple of years ago) his wife doesn't work, he's been divorced twice which cost him and he has bought up 4 children.

There is NO way if he was starting out in his job now that he would be able to buy his house a raise a family.

For me it just goes to show how things have changed over the years and how what used to be a job with a salary to give you a reasonable independent standard of living no longer is and you would have to claim tax credits etc just to survive.