To think no one is supprised by the shcoking poverty in the UK

[Itsgonnabeacoldone]

People act like it's a shock or something not expected. But you would have to be seriously out of touch to be surprised by this

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/dec/04/uk-government-warned-over-sharp-rise-children-pensioner-poverty-study

It's really depressing. Meanwhile Amazon and ebay are paying virtually no tax (all legally) presumably because their billionaire owners don't have enough yachts, houses and cars. Just sends out such a shitty message about our priorities in society. I think we are going backwards into a dark age where everyone is just self obsessed and everything is about money.

Love how you're linking to the Guardian as your unbiased source for this. That'd be the left-wing, Corbyn-is-God and May-is-Satan paper? And the initial report is from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation - also very left-leaning.

There is a huge problem with the way poverty is defined as people who are below a certain percentage of average earnings. Because using that measure, there will always be people classed as living in poverty, even if by anyone else's standards they aren't poor.

Love how stories and sources which support the lefty cause are treated as gospel, whereas if anyone dares posting a link from the Mail or the Telegraph, they're branded a fascist. Does critical thinking and political bias only apply in one political direction then?

Because using that measure, there will always be people classed as living in poverty, even if by anyone else's standards they aren't poor.

Read up on GINI Coefficient. Wealth distribution.

Corbyn-is-God

The Guardian has not been particularly strong in backing Corbyn.

The country is in transition after voters decided they were fed up with the welfare state bloat of the Labour years. It was never going to be easy. The real travesty was the idea to get half the country receiving benefits in the first place.

Lunas

there is a huge problem with the way poverty is defined as people who are below a certain percentage of average earnings. Because using that measure, there will always be people classed as living in poverty, even if by anyone else's standards they aren't poor

Er...yes. If people are living with a less than decent wage, then they can't afford the basics...like food and heating.

That's poverty.

I don't need to worry about the bias of 'sources' to tell me what's going on when i'm tripping over food bank baskets in every supermarket.

Museum
Inadequate wages, salary freeze and zero hours contracts all to blame for ‘half the country on benefits’.
I don’t see any appetite within the present government to change this and it’s no good blaming the past government who haven’t been in power for number of years

yes all those lefties making it all up - only didn't TM's own Social Mobility Board just resign en mass because of the lack of progress and deep unfainess in society ...bunch of lefty dogooders ...oh no hang on they where TORIES

Companies like Amazon pay little tax because they make little profit, and what profit they do make is re-invested providing thousands of jobs all which pay tax and NI. If you want companies to pay tax on turnover fine, but most of you will be out of job tomorrow as your boss couldn't pay your wage due to his paying tax on money he hasn't earnt yet.
I can't wait for a Corbyn government. All you grasping, envious cunts will soon know real poverty as investers go elsewhere, pension funds collapse, mass unemployment and badly run re-nationlised utilities held hostage by unions. You won't cheering Corbyn when it takes 6 months to get your state run broadband installed into your state allocated housing. Good luck getting a train on time to your state allocated job at the tractor factory comrade!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42212270

Also discussed front page of this morning metro - ‘Broke Britain’ and remind me who is Editor of that notoriously left leaning newspaper... oh yes, Tory ex chancellor George Osbourne

And yet, lets all spend, spend, spend because it's christmas!
piles and piles of presents.
stacks of alcohol.
mountains of food
hey lets get a new TV in the black friday sale, or even in the boxing day sale, because the credit card is a go go!

sorry I stand corrected by the way - it was a cross party commison

Good luck getting a train on time yes because they work so well now under private ownership

There is a huge problem with the way poverty is defined as people who are below a certain percentage of average earnings. Because using that measure, there will always be people classed as living in poverty, even if by anyone else's standards they aren't poor. You may be getting confused between mean (=add up all incomes and divide by total number of people) and median(=half earn less than this and half earn more). Relative poverty is defined as less than 60% of median. You could move everyone earning less than median up to, say, 99% of median, and the median wouldn't change - there still be half the population earning less than the median. So it's not true that "using that measure, there will always be people classed as living in poverty,"

Oh yes we must be envious cunts because we want a more equal society....how does that work for affluent folk who support Labour?

job at the tractor factory

What's wrong with working at a factory making tractors?

So apple pay no tax as they create a load of jobs and we shouldn't complain as we will be out of work?

Just who makes apple products? People in the 3rd world who have a high suicide rate...

All you grasping, envious cunts

Enlightened discourse.

job at the tractor factory

What's wrong with working at a factory making tractors?

You won't have a choice over where you work, as only government nationalised jobs will be available.
You really thing a self confessed Marxist like McDonnell will stop at water, gas and trains?? Would laugh my arse off when mumsnet is nationalised.

Inadequate wages, salary freeze and zero hours contracts all to blame for ‘half the country on benefits’.

Again, this Zero hour contracts meme is used, the actual numbers do not back up the assertion, one of the main reasons for the rise in zero hours contracts, stagnant wages etc is the introduction of Working Tax credits.

I'll stick my head above the parapet and admit it wasn't until very recently that I became aware of the extent of poverty in England. I don't mean homelessness, that's glaringly obvious, but in work poverty, childhood poverty etc. It genuinely shook me to the point I set up a local (non referral) food bank. I look back and think about people I used to go to school with, university, work etc and I do wonder the extent to which some of them perhaps couldn't afford things I take for granted.

This is going to sound boastful, I genuinely do not mean it to. Essentially just after Christmas three years ago, I had emptied out fridge out of food that simply hadn't been used. Literally on my way to the recycling centre, I drove past our local community hall (it's about 5 minutes walk from my front door). They were advertising a new free cafe opening up in the New Year. That's what started me on my journey. I looked at Facebook groups like the £ a day or £20 a week ones and I really struggled to compute it all. I still do to be honest. I do not understand how a family of 4 can spend £20 a week, £5 a day. It's made me more aware of our wastefulness, and more grateful. I still don't quite know how people survive on so very little, I am in awe of those who do and do it well. Although I know there are many who don't do it well. I do not understand how there are situations where perhaps stay at home moms are going without food all day to ensure their husbands and children eat, or both parents going without food to buy school uniform or whatever other injustices there are, I don't understand how that can happen in 2017 in England.

My main point is though that up to that point, I was spending most of my time (particularly at work) with clients, directors etc who were multi-millionaires. So I felt poor by comparison. I mean I knew the comparisons with the rest of the world made me rich don't get me wrong, I wasn't that dense, but I genuinely didn't feel rich. I do now and it's been quite a big learning curve.

NotLabeled sounds a whole lot more secure than a rental from a fat, grasping cunt of a "buy to let twat" who can kick me out when he decides he wants more cash....and a job in a dirty pub/call centre or NO job.

Annie what "journey" ? And what Facebook groups? Your post's not clear.