To have cried!

[7dayslater]

I'm 19. DS is 18 months.

I live with DP & DS. I work hard, I have 2 jobs. DP works too. So, no we don't just sit on our arses, but we still need UC help to pay the bills. I want(ed) to train and work in the NHS. I'm also interested in politics.

So yeah, when I woke up this morning and saw the election result I cried. Austerity is very real, it's not a joke or a fictional story. With the way it is right now, I cannot afford an education. I cannot afford to study for a career. I'm stuck where I am.

Sadder still, others have it far worse. There are children in poverty, a homelessness crisis, the NHS is crumbling when people need it more than ever. I can respect democracy. I can respect the vote. But I have to ask, for people like me - what now?

Why not? Why aren’t people entitled to a decent basic standard of living?

People aren't 'entitled' to anything but I do believe, in a civilised society, that we should ensure people are housed, warm, fed and watered. Thankfully, in the UK, they generally are (although I understand homelessness needs to be addressed but, as upsetting as the numbers are, they are thankfully the minority of people).

In addition, as a UK citizen you get free education, free healthcare and other free public services. We have social mobility and more opportunities than ever.

@BeatriceTheBeast

With you 100%, an educated society will ultimately be a better one.

And where are all these jobs supposed to magically come from? I find this statement breathtakingly naive - this ethos would only work if there was full (or pretty close to full) employment. Don't you follow the news, businesses are regularly closing down and making people redundant. There aren't anywhere near enough jobs to go round, so it's nowhere near as simple as 'finding one'. Sheesh

If you can't find a job don't start a family that you can't provide for. Simple really....Seesh!

@OrangeTwirl

I guarantee you that you probably do not pay for yourself entirely. Very few of us in this country do. I have never claimed benefits, as I am lucky enough not to have needed to, but I know I am not a net contributor as i use public services and have my whole life.

Has Mumsnet been taken over by Daily Mail readers these days, or is this just what happens as soon as a right wing government gets elected with a big majority? There's harshness and a real lack of empathy in these post-election threads. Sometimes life doesn't go to plan – and we all need a back-up, a safety net to stop us falling, and that's what we'll lose. But we won't know till we need it – and then it could well be too late.

I don't pay the higher rate of tax but I would have been very happy to pay a bit more so that we didn't have people sleeping on the streets, hungry children, the NHS chronically underfunded and short-staffed, and to fix the failing universal credit system. I'd have been delighted not to have a hostile environment designed to put off people coming to this country who can contribute – and a green new deal is not just a nice to have – it's urgently needed.

Of course you are....If you can provide it for yourself, without expecting others to pay for your lifestyle.

But why?

PBo83

Why aren’t they entitled? Why can’t we agree that we have mutual obligations and nobody is going to go hungry or lie on a hospital floor all night because they don’t have as much money as someone else?

If you can't find a job don't start a family that you can't provide for. Simple really....Seesh!

There is actually a very high number of people living in this country that work and are also below the poverty line. It’s not that simple.

Do not go on the brexit arms thread op!
Seriously though read the good advice on here and try your best.
We need the young to get on in life. It's important.

Tantie it’s happening all over the internet. Like a sigh of relief that people aren’t going to get corrected when they say all this spiteful stuff because they now know that the majority of people in the country feel the same way as they do. People are becoming less ashamed of being bigoted, of being racist and of being selfish.

There is actually a very high number of people living in this country that work and are also below the poverty line.

The thing is, poverty is defined as earning less than 60% of the median wage. This is relative poverty and not abject poverty (I think, in this respect, the word 'poverty' CAN be misleading).

Why aren’t they entitled? Why can’t we agree that we have mutual obligations and nobody is going to go hungry or lie on a hospital floor all night because they don’t have as much money as someone else?

I think we agree that, in a civilised society (as I put in my post) that we SHOULD help provide shelter, food, heat etc.

Yep, heart warming isn’t it!

Indeed ethelfleda, not to mention that most of us take from the state to provide for our families. I'd wager almost everyone on this thread. Not because we don't pay tax or we claim benefits, but because we use public services. I doubt most people will ever pay back what they've take, once they've given birth, used schools, police maybe, ambulances, GPs, state pension. So, nobody should be on their high horse here.

Op you obviously are to young to remember when Labour was in power before. Suggest you do some digging

The Tories got a big majority and it is what it is. Nothing is going to change that.

I am old enough to remember the Thatcher years and come from a poor background. I was surprised to find some of the areas that I am familiar with turning blue. It will sound harsh but the current environment is nowhere near as bad for the less well off than it was back then. Not that this makes it better, but in my circumstances I would have had more opportunities today than I had back then.

The OP has a job.

People are becoming less ashamed of being bigoted, of being racist and of being selfish.

Nobody on this thread has been bigoted or racist. As for being selfish, are you saying that everyone who voted Labour did so in the best interests of other people OR might it be, as this thread suggests, that they realise that they won't suddenly be getting more from the state (which, in my opinion, is more selfish than believing you should be able to keep more of what you work for).

People aren't 'entitled' to anything

Errm, if they're been paying into the system and are in genuine need, then yes they bloody well are. That's the whole point of why we pay taxes and NI.

Point taken @BeatriceTheBeast, even if we don’t claim benefits we benefit from the State. We do of course fund all (if not more than what we take) through our taxes, NI and council tax.

I don’t know much about universal credit and how it works, so I’m just trying to understand OP, but can’t you claim universal credit when you’re in full time education, under 21 and responsible for a child? You can get free childcare for two year olds- so won’t you be able to train when your child is eligible for this? A quick google says there are care to learn and learner support grants if you wouldn’t be eligible for the free childcare? Of course your entitled to feel how you feel, I’m just wondering why it’s so impossible for you to train?

Congrats to those posting details of their flawlessly well managed lives and smug certainties.

OP, you have had a child young and that must be tough but it also frees you to plan what comes next for you as your child grows. It’s depressing how things are going in the world. I grew up in poverty and it hold you back. I left school straight into Thatcher’s ideologically-driven mass unemployment. Austerity is also an ideology. Cry your tears then on with the fight.

Anyone who thinks they’re a net contributor and therefore they get to look down on others is deluding themselves. When they need heart surgery, or chemo, or there’s an earthquake, who are they going to rely on? Their fellow citizens.

@PBo83

I know a man who earns huge amounts of money. He is a card carrying Labour Party member and people are always astonished, as if he's mad to want to be paying more tax. As if politics is all about conserving your own assets and seeking to maximise your own benefits. So, no, people don't always vote with their own financial best interests in mind.

And if you look at the Tory voters being interviewed today, they mainly look and sound as if they have a fairly deprived life. There is more to it than money and self interest, on both sides.

The OPhasa job

She does. So does her partner. They can pay for OP's education. Why does the govt have to pay? They have already paid for OP to have primary, secondary and college education

OrangeTwirl

The government doesn’t pay for anything. The money belongs to the people.