To think wales is a huge problem that no one ever talks about?

[Cocklodger]

Right now Theresa May is cracking down on no win no fee solicitors
Mainly south Wales, in particular the valleys.
Back years ago when the mines were shut down rightfully there was nothing left to replace it. Nothing at all, it killed thousands of jobs, which was to be expected, but in exchange there was no new businesses, no back ups, nothing. And it's only gotten worse since, poverty is high, benefit claimants are quite common
Public transport is awful to say the least and if you can't commute to Cardiff by some means, you're screwed, most can't afford cars and if you're in a public transport black spot then you're severely limited to warehouse operative positions which have over 100 applicants in one to three days. Meanwhile house prices in Cardiff are rising, I think in 40 years we will have a new London.
In the valleys most looks grey, worn out and pretty dead to be honest. Where I live there are a few car dealerships and a train station, which is more like a bus stop with tracks next to it than an actual station and the nearest station with people actually manning the booths is pontypridd (45mins away by train) I spent years working as a volunteer for an agency that helps people with problems (poverty related) such as MH issues, finding work, food bank referrals and the like. I saw it every single day, people wanting to work but seldom getting anywhere.
There are articles and documentaries about it, but I never see them talked bout on here or elsewhere really, aibu to think that Wales is a big problem that no one really talks about?

Hasn't it been a few decades since mine closures?

In a sane world, most people of working age would have moved away from a place with no jobs within a year or two. Surely the UK benefits system is creating misery by sustaining populations in what would be ghost towns, if Wales were America.

I think in the worst areas for employment job-seekers allowance should, for certain claimants, be replaced by help with relocation. (Start with the single and the young, but also available to anyone who wants it.)

So I'm the only one who didn't realize that merthyr, wasn't part of the rhondda then? Oops. I also included bridgend, which was daft.
Well they're all pretty close in proximity.
Sorry guys, I was wrong. But I'm not going to slink off embarrassed, point still stands tbf.
All of south Wales is suffering to some degree.

After relocating to somewhere with more jobs, people could obviously claim job-seekers in the new location.

I agree with the deprivation in the valleys, but think its all over the country, not just in Wales.
Unemployment is high, sickness rates even higher

Will be interesting to see what effects Brexit has as a lot of stuff in the valleys is EU subsidised

I don't know anyone from a deprived part of Wales. I know people from naice parts or Cardiff. My default impression of Wales is as a lovely place, so I'm interested to read other perspectives.

I do think the transport links are shocking and that decent transport links might potentially solve a lot of problems - is that fair to say? I would wholeheartedly support the government in carrying out a big transport infrastructure project in Wales. Trouble is so much of it is unspoilt and beautiful - what do you prioritise, the nature or the people? Impossible question that.

But why is relocation the answer?
I see people fighting against it for those in London (who instead of unemployment are battling housing) because it's their home, their families and friends are here etc etc. We're in a good financial position now but we did consider relocation years ago, it would've cost us about 3-4000 just for the moving of our stuff and getting a flat sorted, let alone anything else, we would've had to have found jobs very very quickly too and it would've meant leaving all of my family.
It wasn't financially feasible, say the cost is 6000 per person/couple, surely that would be more costly in the long run? Especially if we ended up over saturating areas in England or wherever we send them?

But people's ties to their community hold fast. And where are they all supposed to go? People need a good standard of living education, healthcare etc in their own towns and cities.

Fuck me we'll the S.E into the sea if we all m I ve down there

Thanks. I live and work in a valleys town. I'm neither a zombie nor am I gormless.

^tip

Batteries- if you're in Wales again have a long drive starting with trefforest and go further up. It gets worse the higher up the valleys you go.

Lolimax- neither am I, but you have to admit a lot of people do seem a bit zombified, alcoholism and depression probably answers for that. I'd say about 50-65 percent of adults, anecdata of course.

Sounds very similar to the Isle of Wight.

On our last holiday there a few years ago we took a wrong turning and ended up in a residential area literally two miles from the seafron. We saw a completely different side to island life that we never knew existed.

It was disturbing to say the least.

I've seen too much deprivation in my life to go seeking it out tourist style. I believe you that some parts are struggling.

yes - such as the £957 Million pound EU funded rural development program!

Wales and other poor areas will miss EU funding - sadly

Wales is another area devastated buy closure of industry and traditional jobs - like the Mining areas of Notts and South Yorkshire

I work in the midlands - in an area of low employment and high poverty - part of my role is funded by the EU as well

The government gives not a shiny shit for the poor - at least the EU provided funding for schemes to try and help people into employment and create sustainable jobs

shame that will disappear now

Theoretician, this is one reason the ever-tightening restrictions on housing benefit and other benefits are so bonkers. Ditto unpaid "internships".

The mantra of those who support these things is always, "They should live at home with their parents."

I've tried explaining till I'm blue in the face that if the parents live in a high-unemployment area, all this does is trap the next generation in the same area.

If they have 'parents' to live with

I work with care leavers - most don't have that option

restrictions on benefits for young people

Sorry, key bit of sentence missing.

It destroys people, in the most literal sense, if they have no work. The effect of removal of industries like mining, steel, shipbuilding are akin to that of a civil war. The whole landscape, mentality changes utterly for the inhabitants.

Everyone just looks zombified and gormless.

I'm surprised Merthyr only manages No. 8 on the list; the Gurnos estate is one of the most depressing places I've been to. Mind you, that was quite a few years ago so things may have improved since then.

There are similar issues anywhere the mines closed, as any jobs which did replace them were service jobs, call centres etc. so tended to employ women and left men without the physical jobs they'd done previously. Areas of the north east, nottinghamshire, Stoke etc. have the same issues, with lack of transport to the nearest big cities clobbering any chances of getting other work.

The tories aren't going to care about working class, labour voting, areas like these, so it's difficult to get them on the political agenda. UKIP give the impression they're interested so you see votes for them creeping in. Maybe Corbyn can start that discussion when Labour has finished its in-fighting.

I holidayed in Wales last year for the first time in many years. I was shocked at the lack of investment in infrastructure, industry etc tbh It was much more evident than in the NE or Cornwall, which we hear more about. The countryside is beautiful but that's not enough to sustain you.

I'm surprised we don't hear more about it tbh

I live in the valleys. I'm neither a zombie nor gormless. The public transport here is very good. Buses and trains all over the place so id genuinely love to know what constitutes poor transport or what evidence there is of this. Education is shit because it's for the middle classes and above, not for the likes of me whom all invariably end up working in retail.
Jobs are bloody scarce and unemployment is an issue everywhere not just specifically here. We're not all scroungers and addicts waiting for the next giro. Many of the small communities here are doing well in the face of adversity, there is also a generous and warm friendliness here that keeps visitors coming. As for brexit, just like every other shitstorm that's come before, we'll survive.
Don't know anything about politics but I do know my home.

Yep, UKIP doesn't (yet) have a record of failure in government.

So they can promise what they like without being held accountable for a failure to deliver.

And that will win them votes.

Some areas have good transport, pontypridd, trefforest, I hear abercynon isn't too bad either.
searches for evidence

I agree with you OP and others who have posted. And the answer should not be that people have to relocate (if they don't want to). But there isn't a cats hope in hell's chance of having serious investment under the current government.