Give people 100% of their wages if they're forced to close

[Marg33t]

How are people on nmw supposed to live on 66% of wages. All the council leaders in the north are rightly outraged at how unfair this is!

@Pumpkinnose that’s exactly it. It’s the people who, if they weren’t so intent on having a brand car each every couple of years, a massive house, furnished show home standard, shopping for new clothes every weekend, flash holidays, all on credit, all for materialistic show, wouldn’t be so on the edge. Those people should have prioritised savings, maybe pay more in tax.

The people who are living a basic life hand to mouth need more help, only pay out dividends from companies if all employees get a living wage etc. Bosses should only be allowed a certain multiple of the lowest salary.

People have gotten greedy and success is measured in material wealth. People want instant gratification for themselves.

Its funny if you go around the borough i live in, you come across places where people tend to drive cheaper older cars but live in a more desirable area and ownership levels are high and you come across places where people drive new badged cars on hire purchase but live in areas which are less desirable and more rent.

There is a real range of difference between what people prioritise and think is important to their lifestyle.

Level of debt and exposure to a problem if someone loses a job similarly differs.

I do think its something that long term is untenable because of the social tension its causing.

@purplepingu sorry to hear that, that is truly awful

@RedToothBrush

Reality is how do you justify 67% pay for someone on £60,000 when it also mean 2/3 income for those on minimum wage.

The other reality is that people have a certain expectation of lifestyle and many have lived beyond their means and raked up huge debts which now mean they are in real trouble.

Should people who have budgeted wisely and havent built up those debts, bail out those who are in financial trouble? There are many who saved and were sensible with money who dont qualify for UC so it makes it even harder to justify.

There are no easy answers here. There is a lot of resentment all around. People who are still working know they are paying for people to sit on their arse. Fine if its minimum wage, but it doesn't go down so well if its £60,000.

Long term we do need to address household debt, the cost of housing and a poor culture of saving.

And in the interim the idea that everyone should get 100% if they are closed down is politically not an option for this reason.

I think it raises the question of a national minimum income being drawn up.

I think we will start to see an end of the expectation of an annual foreign holiday going forward too. Its simply going to beyond the means of many and thats going to be normalised.

I believe that Germany has only offered 70% full wage so its not a bad offer especially if the alternative is universal credit alone.

This doesn't make it any easier if you are the one up shit creek but i do think 100% wages for everyone is hugely unrealistic.

Saving is a big thing and I think it needs to be taught in high school and at home a bit more.

The old system which some people are still on allowed you to save 16,000 where as on UC you can’t save that amount. So it’s a catch 22 once your caught up in the benefit system.

I'm in an area that will most likely go in to lockdown & the areas that have contributed the most to the total cases are where the students who have gone to the two universities live. If they hadn't returned we wouldn't be nearly locked down. People are going to be losing their income due to no fault of their own, why can't they lock down individual areas & leave everyone else to get on with their lives.

@Nat6999 I don’t think it’s just the students it’s not fair to blame them. It’s funny how the government forgot to mention how they told a lot of people to go back to the office (causing numbers to go up) and flights abroad... local lockdowns have been taking place I think we all now know they are not working.

Sadly, our economy is dependent on those who buy new clothes, redecorate every few years, run two cars, lunch and dinner out weekly, beauty treatments and spa weekends, and have two holidays a year. What covid has shown is that our economy has run on the hot air of materialism and now that people can't spend their money on those things we are all royally fucked.

[quote Lillysnotroses]@Nat6999 I don’t think it’s just the students it’s not fair to blame them. It’s funny how the government forgot to mention how they told a lot of people to go back to the office (causing numbers to go up) and flights abroad... local lockdowns have been taking place I think we all now know they are not working.[/quote]
It was stupid to send students to Uni without being tested. Govt and Unis should have set up covid tests for all students on the moving in day so those infected bringing it to the Uni could have been identified and isolated quickly.

Unis are also grossly stupid for not spreading the students out. In my son's Uni, there are whole floors of empty halls/flats, but at the same time, the occupied halls/flats are full, so if one catches covid, it'll spread quickly to the others in that hall/flat. They could easily have spready them out to use all halls/flats but with slightly less occupancy. But, no, all Unis care about is the money.

Even better would have been for unis to deliver courses wholly remotely for this first term (except for those where physical attendance is necessary such as medicine etc). But, again, it's all about money - they had to "con" the students into thinking there'd be face to face activities at uni to get them to take up residence so they'd get the inflated rents from them.

One thing I really hope people learn from this pandemic is to plan for change and not live right on the edge of what they can afford.

We did! But fuck me, there are limits. No work since March and no end in sight, there's only so far savings can take you.

We don't want a handout, we want to work. But its seems utterly unfair to make it illegal to earn a living and also not offer help.

And no i never voted Tory and for UC, which as home owners with a mortgage would be useless anyway.
*
This is the same for me. No foreign holidays for over a decade. I'm a single parent and have worked my backside off and saved to make sure I was financially secure. The company I worked for went straight to redundancies - so I've had no furlough support. Can't get UC and am only allowed JSA, which runs out after 6 months. I've already had it for 4 months with no job in sight. Not sure what will happen after that.

So many people have been given little to no help - the system is staggeringly unfair. I won't be happy if some people are given 100% of their salary when others receive zero. It needs to be fair for everyone.*

We are talking about companies that are being forced to close. It's looking like those will be pubs, gyms, restaurants. None of the staff there are earning £60k.

The whole thing is a bizarre experiment everyone seems convinced woks because China said it did. We decided collectively that China is now a model of how to treat any problem. What shall we copy off China next? Massacring students who want freedom?

Supermarkets are taking on Xmas temps from this month . Not perfect but it'll fill the next 3 months .

It's great in theory and people are in a horrific situation, but the purse isn't endless. I honestly don't know what the answer is, though. It's a terrible situation.

Tootletum ooh maybe we can copy them by colonising Africa by stealth. Oh hang on, tried that already (less than stealthily).