3.2 million households in problem debt

[DollyBarton]

And an increase of 200k children in poverty than last year. How is this happening! From my own experience I can see companies squeezing workers for the benefit of shareholders especially since 2007. AIBU to think the lack of fair wages is the biggest reason for most households debt? On a micro level I'm sure some people lack money management skills and splurge where they really shouldn't but workers are given so little to live on.

Point being, on average a mortgage today is no more expensive, and in fact cheaper, than for people who have fully repaid the debt.

What is important is the deposit required to get a mortgage in the first place. Some people do the maths and work out they will have saved enough...by the time they are too old to get a mortgage.

carol I haven't got a clue what you're on about. Maybe try it again? I'm not that good at maths, all I know is my £640 mortgage plus all the other bills on top of that. We haven't a cat in hell's chance of remortgaging because of our financial situation, so quoting % here and % there you may as well be talking Swahili.

@caroldecker: nice read.

it appears from that doc london is substantially worse however.

Nope, still not got a clue and I can't open the link on my phone. Oh well.

I just feel that the bankers are absorbing all the riches of the world. Here in Mexico there was a banking crisis and the government bailed out the banks, who didn't have to sacrifice a thing, even there art and antique collections were left intact, while a large part of the federal budget to this day is going to pay for that.

Nowadays every street corner seems to have a pawn broker on it.

Same in the UK. It's just pawnbrokers, betting shops and charity shops with the odd short term lease independent shop thrown in for good measure.

Lack of cookery skills
buying what you need not what you want mantra is a problem
plus a lot of only sunshine ahead thinking with no safety net savings

I'm an excellent stew soup risotto paella carbonara pasta etc etc etc maker. I can do a lot with not a lot. I feel shit saying this as actually I'm lucky enough to be very comfortably off.

Some of my friends are really struggling but still have take always 3/4 times a week, sky, nails done, fake tan, weekly blow dry, designer trainers, bags etc and a new something to wear a few times a month - nowt fancy but more and more and more

Lots of my loaded on paper friends ( earn £200k+ between them types ) don't have even £10k in the bank, they spend exactly what they earn. Lots of shit spoken about the bare necessities which if repeated would make us drown in a sea of vomit
I think that there are more of us on a knife edge than we think

In terms of housing costs, what is important is the monthly interest payment. Higher prices are directly linked to lower mortgage interest rates.

No it really, really isn't. Actually that sort of attitude can be a big driver in people taking on mortgages they can't afford and falling into trouble. As a previous poster pointed out, the key point and the reason why getting on the ladder is so much harder now than it was a couple of decades back is the size of deposit required. It's no good to low and middle income people to know that a mortgage payment might be quite affordable if they could get one, certainly compared to their extortionate rent. Because if they need to get together huge sums in deposits, they might as well attempt to go to the moon.

On our local news last night, there was a story about how a food bank set up specifically for the summer holidays has run out of food two weeks early, as not even the organisers realised just how big the problem is. This is in Hartlepool, about 15 miles away from where I live. What a sad indictment of England in the 21st century.

Wages are lower in real terms than they have been in 20 years and housing is very expensive. Other basics such as childcare are way outstripping inflation and wage inflation, so more expensive in real terms year on year. Many jobs (millions) don't pay anything close to a living wage ( and the thing the government is calling the new living wage is actually lower than the Living Wage Foundation figure). Companies have been subsidised to pay poverty wages for years because the state has topped up paltry wages with complex structures of tax credits to allow people to survive. The majority of people considered to be living in poverty now are actually in work, not on benefits or pensions. Of course some people probably are feckless and live beyond their means, but generally I think people simply do not earn enough. The basic conditions needed to live a decent life are a set of things determined by surveying the public annually. These are not excessive, for example owning a winter coat, having 2 pairs of shoes, living in accommodation that is not cold, damp or overcrowded. Often people complain about others 'wasting' money on flash mobiles and laptops etc. I have a £15 Nokia and pay as you go - this can actually end up more expensive than going on a contract and being given a fancy phone with the free texts, minutes etc. Also, if you don't have a mobile and some sort of internet access, you are really cut out of huge sections of modern life. Jobs for example, if you're on a zero hours contract they are going to contact you by mobile phone. Or if you're self employed, or job hunting.

I can see that OP's post is true.

I have a good degree, qualifications post degree and work in FE education. I love it but the pay is shite. No increase in salary for years. I earn £21,892 a year working 4 days a week, that is including an extra chunk for extra responsibilities. DH has a decent job that pays a little more.

Bills go up, DC growing up and costing more but we have no more money, in fact less as we are paying more out.

We live in private rented, have been saving for a house deposit for years. We'll get there but we are not getting any younger. We have no debt but we do not go on holidays or meals out or anything like that.

We manage, I consider us very lucky, we live in a nice area, good schools, countryside nearby etc. However I can see that getting into debt can be very easily done. If one of us lost our job, if the rent goes up is year, we will struggle.

Interesting article in the Guardian today about child poverty in Cornwall. Flags many of the issues posters have identified here - low wages, high property prices, cuts in services (both childcare and services supporting those trying to get work). Also flags lack of affordable public transport and lack of affordable or council housing.

Even if its possible to find (permanent, non seasonal) work in the first place, there needs to be transport to get there and affordable childcare (even if just to cover school holidays and wrap around hours.)
And even then, how does a family save a deposit for a £244k home on a £22k salary?

Everyone in debt is feckless.

Everyone in debt is feckless

Are you for real?

Not so.

As Birds wrote earlier:-

"Families experience poverty for many reasons, but its fundamental cause is not having enough money to cope with the circumstances in which they are living. A family might move into poverty because of a rise in living costs, a drop in earnings through job loss or benefit changes".

Feckless, I do not think so.

Causes of debt include:-

Loss of income due to redundancy
Divorce
Ill health

I got in debt due to redundancy. Only 3.5k but it made me sick to my stomach to have it hanging over my head.

How feckless of me to not want to starve and live on the streets

No, of-course not. But I thought I would say what others on here appear to be suggesting but can't seem to come out and say. However there is some truth in you can only blame yourself - i'm in debt, I blame myself, no one forced me to be here.

Niloufes

Do fuck off sweetie, there's a good chap.

some truth in you can only blame yourself
Oh yes I blame myself for my minimum wage job no longer existing and having to use a credit card to eat and pay rent

Boogers - I didn't tell you to F off. Why go to such base levels of abuse?

If you can't take a different view then perhaps you shouldn't post on here.

I suspect it has something to do with the fact what you said is extremely insulting to some people, people who have struggled to live yet are being branded 'feckless', whether you meant it or not.

At my DH work there are many in this situation, the wages haven't gone up or don't pay enough in the first place, flexible contract not zero hours but can be close. Some of his colleagues are using foodbanks now.

I've been in debt due to struggling myself so can understand.

It's never the rich that pay for the mistakes either, look at that Philip Green, he's off on his yacht whilst others pay the price. It makes you feel sick sometimes.