To think lockdown has revealed a glaring class difference?

[TexanBlueNeck]

Filled in a survey & read some of the latest "lifestyle" columnists in UK (digital) newspapers.

No, some people are not using lockdown to browse around buying clothes and home accessories or patter about experimenting with new recipe ideas from inventive food combinations or try out a new food box delivery service.

Some of us are at breaking point between juggling childcare duties, supporting vulnerable or elderly relatives and neighbours, working from home or not at all, using the last tin of smartprice tomatoes that could be bought at an empty supermarket shelf (in person, because full-time worker parents aren't a priority group). While worrying about job security. Not whether to buy new sofa cushions while the cockpot experiment cooks!

I honestly think some commentators' experience of lockdown isn't even on the same planet as a huge portion of the rest of the (working class) UK

Its not class.

I know someone who lives in a council house and has secure income from council and her benefits who is swanning around with her best mate. Nothing has changed whatsoever for her. Except she is getting paid for doing fuck all.

I also know people who are very middle class, their business is fucked they are stressing about paying the mortgage and don't know where the hell they will find the money for food this week.

Its about income security and food security. That goes across class barriers.

It's income and not class. I have two undergraduate degrees and two post graduate degrees and earn less than £600 a month. I grew up in a well off middle class home but have a very different life now.

Surely class has some impact? For one some people don't have to work & rely on investments so they have that security.
Lots of mc, umc come from similar backgrounds & therefore their parents are likely to have benefited from house prices gains, good pensions etc, so their children have a safety net.
There's people on my street whatsapp group sharing wine delivery details even though they have been furloughed. Most people when facing the prospects of losing your job don't spend £100 on wine but if your parents can bail you out then you less worried.

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It's shit, isn't it, OP? I have much sympathy with parents of young or school age children, or who are carers for elderly parents and cannot access shops easily.

Its about personality types or expectations too. I am a solitary person anyway and much prefer online friendships to face to face. I don't do online spending or browsing either. When not working I am catching up on reading and sorting out the clutter that has built up over winter (just can't avoid it now) and mumsnet .

Once this awful time is past we will be able to work out a plan for the next time it happens. and hopefully put things in place to support people like yourself, OP.

I watch all the reports of people trying to fill their time whilst never been so stressed at work in my life. NHS so have to go in and >3/4 of my team are off. This weekend could not come quick enough, but I spent 2 hours on a walk to and very long queue at the pharmacy as can’t get there in opening hours in the week.

u r talking a load of shit if you think its class related. My kids are the same class as me but because they live in a different place, and therefore have different housing costs (2 bed flat there = 4 deb house here) their situation is totally different...and if they were we few years older they may have kids of their own. none of that has anything to do with class

I also think age is factor, if you're older you will be more secure. Young? even with a good job will be a struggle.

People massively overlook the benefits & mentality of a safety net. We have a garden (small), disney plus, netflix, laptops, ipads, etc. I've struggled to get food so have spent a fortune on fruit & veg boxes, meat delivery, pasta boxes etc. I bought a load of crafts from Baker ross & a ton of garden toys. My job is currently secure but who knows if this will last, I won't lose my home though or be on the streets.

You are being unreasonable because of this:

...because full-time worker parents aren't a priority group

If we got to the stage where working parents were a priority group, on top of everyone who is already a higher priority, there would be virtually no one who isn't a priority.

Sorry - will ask MN to remove - thought I was starting a new thread and posted on here by mistake ( also can't type either - massive fail)

There will be businesses that are struggling hugely and people who have high outgoings. It’ll cut across income and class.

Turning on each other and comparing, feeling resentful etc is how society starts to break down.

Now is the time to look out for each other, not start hating people for having more or looking down your nose at people who have less.

This thread is quite sad to be honest.

For now I reorganized people to 2 groups/classes. One with own garden, other without own garden.

Having said that I do feel hugely for people stuck in flats without a garden, especially with young dc.

"juggling childcare duties, supporting vulnerable or elderly relatives and neighbours, "

But that's not a class thing is it? Some people have children and elderly relatives and some don't.
Even rich people who used to have someone else to do those things for them will have to do them themselves now as having people come into your home is not allowed.

The job security thing is a different matter of course.

"One with own garden, other without own garden."

Yep. That's a big one and will be more so if the weather gets nicer. It's horrible here today.
I'm lucky enough to still have a job and be able to work from home (though I think I'd be even luckier if I was furloughed on 80% and didn't have to work), but I have to work where I eat, no separate desk, no separate work space. Working from home is shit in a tiny flat.

"There's people on my street whatsapp group sharing wine delivery details even though they have been furloughed. "

They're on 80% wages so unless they were low income to begin with, that makes sense. Not all furloughed workers will be in companies threatened with closure.

Yanbu OP, and I feel really bad for people stuck in flats with no outdoor space which I would guess correlates with lower income. But I guess a lot of media is ‘aspirational’ bullshit, even now.

"I know someone who lives in a council house and has secure income from council and her benefits who is swanning around with her best mate. Nothing has changed whatsoever for her. Except she is getting paid for doing fuck all.

I also know people who are very middle class, their business is fucked they are stressing about paying the mortgage and don't know where the hell they will find the money for food this week."

Yes, but for the second group if by middle class you mean that they're comfortably off, they should have been saving up while things were good so that they're not left with nothing straight away, whereas the people on benefits won't have been able to do that.

I don't actually think it's a class issue. If anything many working class are more likely to be furloughed or actually working. Many middle class are trying to juggle wfh along with home schooling. Which is 100x easier said than done when you have a distractable child and a 3 to distractor!

Those columnists are casting around for something light and diverting to write

Well exactly - the people who are really struggling are unlikely to be sat around reading these columns. They're aimed at the people who are likely to have some leisure time to read them.

"I know people who are middle class, self employed, earns over £50k, high mortgages, income ceased overnight and on universal credit with no bail out. "

They earn over 50k but they have NO savings to supplement the universal credit?

Re High mortgage - I assume they can get mortgage holiday at least?