To think a smart phone is an essential?

[picklecustard]

So every time I see the debate about free lunches for poor families on Facebook and social media, there are always people who comment about the same families being able to afford ‘non-essential luxuries’ sometimes it’s Sky Tv sometimes cigarettes and booze, but one example that consistently gets mentioned is having an i-phone/smart phone/phone contract.

Quite baffled that in this day and age people consider possessing a smart phone as a non-essential luxury. I know few people with a landline nowadays and a mobile is the point of contact for most. It’s also far more useful in the case of an emergency as you always have it with you. Access to the internet via a phone is also a necessity to most- when I needed a job most vacancies were advertised online and needed to be applied for online, I don’t drive so do my food shopping online (as well as finding recipes online), doctors appointments are booked much more easily online for my local surgery, my bills and banking are managed via apps and online, my children’s school only send letters via ParentMail app or email so all news/forms/payments and everything relevant to their schooling requires my iphone. And that’s just a few examples. My phone is genuinely an essential for everyday living and I’m surprised people don’t see it that way!

@ComeOnBabyHauntMyBubble that's pretty much it, isn't it? . During the lockdown I found tech a nightmare (and I'm not "poor"). We have a laptop that DH uses to work from home. Two very basic and unreliable tablets, and my iPhone. My phone got used lots to ensure we could access the online resources. Of people have two or more kids how were they expected to teach using online resources without the tech?
There was an article in the media last week about a man being told by the job centre that his basic phone was not good enough and he needed to get a better one. The funding available did not cover all the extra costs that incurred.

In the national assistance act of many decades ago, access to a TV was seen as a basic right. I'm sure there were people up in arms about that to.

And it's never just an Iphone. No, it's expensive Iphone,the latest Iphone,the £1000 Iphone. It can't possibly be an old one,a cheap one,one got on a good deal,a hand me down ,bought second hand,gifted etc.

I'm an Iphone user and tbh I have no idea how the latest one looks like or how much it costs.

@Snackasaurus but where is the evidence that people who are using food banks etc have prioritised an iPhone X over food? It's just a whole load of assumptions.

There will always be parents who are feckless with money. I saw a family yesterday using food vouchers then went outside and got into a brand new 4 x 4. I dont know the circumstances... but kids shouldn't suffer regardless.

That's why giving them food is still a good idea! The feckless parents can't spend food vouchers on booze/sky/cigarettes.

I think Labour or tory voting free school meals makes sense more than upping UC.

[quote Snackasaurus]@ComeOnBabyHauntMyBubble it's not about 'poor people not being allowed iphones'. It's about 'poor people' who prioritise the latest iphone instead of the basic essentials like food![/quote]
Any sources for that claim? Or just what you think you know?

@Ifailed

I do wonder why, if they are so wonderful, the majority of people currently WFH are not using their smartphone, but a laptop or PC? Maybe some of the posters here could start up a company that trains people to use Excel, PowerPoint, Word etc. on their iPhone?

I remember having to use my fucking work blackberry (yes I am that old) to look at some spreadsheets whilst stuck in an airport... no ,just no.

I have people at work moaning that 2 screens at home are not enough to work properly, I'll suggest they use their phone from now on 😂

@bringbackCabanas I didn't say everybody. Nor do I assume it's everybody. However, I do know people who do prioritise the latest iPhone instead of food!

@ComeOnBabyHauntMyBubble like I have just said, I know people who do this so!

@PlanDeRaccordement

No, a smartphone is not a necessity. Internet access is a necessity and that can be via a smartphone or pad or computer or TV. Which can be very cheap or very expensive.

I think the poorer people, as in those on universal credit, do tend towards more expensive solutions because they are limited in the amount if savings they can have. I think if you save more than £16k, you lose universal credit altogether. So the system is encouraging people on universal credit to spend any extra income instead of saving it.
It’s not lack of intelligence or qualifications or bad character, it’s the welfare system penalising saving. Don’t get me wrong. Not saying the system needs to change, just that the rules are what is pushing human behaviour, not their internal characteristics. People on universal credit are no different intelligence wise than people earning enough to not be on universal credit.

Nobody is taking out a contract on an iPhone to get their savings down from £16,001 to £15,026 for the purposes of claiming Universal Credit.

I think if you save more than £16k, you lose universal credit altogether.

really? That is shocking. When you think how many families don't qualify for any help whatsoever and are lucky if they have £5 in the bank at the end of the month. This country is backwards.

I used to have a job working with poorer families. Very, very few of them had the latest iPhone or ‘brand new 4 x 4s. Their reality was very different to what the media and the Tories want you to believe.
Many just about manage day to day but when they get an unexpected bill, it tips them into having to choose between that and food.
Of course you’ll always get the parents who waste their money and don’t prioritise their children but for the vast majority, that’s not the case. They love their kids and feel under constant strain to provide for them. A lot of people just don’t have a clue.

It used to be ‘oh look, they say they’re poor but they’ve got a big flat screen tv’🙄... now its smartphones that they shouldn’t have.

[quote Snackasaurus]@ComeOnBabyHauntMyBubble like I have just said, I know people who do this so![/quote]
Oh well, if you know people then I bow down in front of your empirical evidence.

@ComeOnBabyHauntMyBubble You really do not need to patronise people who don't agree with your opinion. My opinion is that smartphones are not essential and I have explained my reasoning above. Because I don't agree with you and have explained why, your response is a sarcastic comment. Great!

I remember the post on a local group warning people not to buy the latest big issue because the seller had the latest iphone

"the majority of people currently WFH are not using their smartphone, but a laptop or PC?"

I am using my work laptop using DATA from my SMARTPHONE. Take my phone away and I can't work.

@MitziK
I disagree. It’s not no one.
Don’t forget too that for each £250 (or any part of £250) you have over £6,000, Universal Credit will reduces by £4.35 in each assessment period. For example, if you have savings of £6,200 the Universal Credit benefit will reduce by £4.35.
You can’t hand in heart say that people are not discouraged from saving by this? If it’s a question of an annual holiday to Benidorm or having your benefit cut and no holiday at all that people choose to put away money, skip the Holiday and slowly watch their already small monthly income decrease?

@AbsentmindedWoman

I suppose some things might be more convenient with a smartphone, but I've never felt the need to have one.

Not just convenience.

For telehealth appointments in the pandemic, both my endocrinologist and neurologist insisted I used their app on a smartphone - I assume some kind of security measure.

I could not do the appointment on my laptop, much to my irritation. They would not do a simple phone call appointment either, the way one of my other doctors will. I fucking hate the faff of downloading apps I don't use regularly.

But obviously, I had to do it in this case - my doctors are very good and worth the effort but yes I needed a smartphone for my appointment.

I wonder what they’d have done with someone who couldn’t access that - thinking of mum.

@TeamLucille

Can I call you for a job interview on your computer?

why do you need an expensive smartphone to receive a phone call now?

Oh dear. The job interview will be on Teams, Zoom, etc. If you are the only person having an audio only interview you will be disadvantaged compared to the others.

[quote Snackasaurus]@ComeOnBabyHauntMyBubble it's not about 'poor people not being allowed iphones'. It's about 'poor people' who prioritise the latest iphone instead of the basic essentials like food![/quote]
The title says smart phone and from the OP
but one example that consistently gets mentioned is having an i-phone/smart phone/phone contract.

The question was about a smart phone or iPhone or phone contract, It's people like you, and the press who like to add on the bits about the £1000 latest iPhone or £30 a month contracts.
Most of the people I know are 'poor' not one of us has a phone that cost anywhere near that amount. Or contracts that amount to £30 a month.
I have a cheap handset, and put £10 a month PAYG on it, used to need to be £20 before I had to get broadband for the sake of DD who was doing GCSEs. It's still working, it costs me less than my shitty, cheap and all I can get poor quality broadband a month and I can do everything on it.
But automatically because I'm poor I must be that feckless that I've gone out and bought the latest iPhone and signed up to a monthly contract? Does that fecklessness automatically change if I come into some money?
Oh and btw, I do work, I care for the elderly full time, plus more when shifts are available.
My wages don't cover my essential outgoings like rent and council tax etc so I'm topped up with tax credits, because no one thinks my job is worth being paid a wage you can actually live on. Or things like sick pay if I get ill, illness has got me into debt in the past because if min wage isn't enough to live on, SSP certainly isn't.
And to pre-empt the 'get a better job' bollocks, even if I did, someone would be needed to fill my position, who wouldn't magically earn more, so they could very easily be in the same position.
My smartphone was the only way I had of communication and internet access, combined into one device, for the cheapest monthly payment and the cheapest handset that did what I needed it to do. I got the job I'm doing now by talking on the phone and by filling in my details for my DBS check online to enable me to do the job. I get my weekly covid test results via text and email - I know instantly if I am safe to go to work.
I had to do a video call with a doctor a month ago to certify a death as it's safer for the Dr, our staff and of course residents, than the Dr visiting.
I also used my phone to do a video call at work for a resident/family who cannot have contact at the moment.
So fucking tell me again how my smart phone isn't essential just because I'm poor?!
Get your head out of your privileged backside and realise that people are not automatically feckless spenders just because they're poor!

@Gwenhwyfar

"the majority of people currently WFH are not using their smartphone, but a laptop or PC?"

I am using my work laptop using DATA from my SMARTPHONE. Take my phone away and I can't work.

Is it an iphone though?

@Doodiesbear If you bothered to read my previous comments, you would know that I wasn't previously talking about iPhones. I was talking about smartphones in general! I replied to that comment as the PP as mentioned iPhones.

'People like me' shows you're making assumptions about me when you know nothing about me! I work like you do, I have a cheap £99 smartphone that I saved up for as I couldn't pay outright for and used my old phone while I did so!

So instead of making assumptions about me being 'privileged', perhaps read my previous comments instead of jumping in head first!!

Oh dear. The job interview will be on Teams, Zoom, etc. If you are the only person having an audio only interview you will be disadvantaged compared to the others.

oh dear we are back where we started, an internet connection and a computer are fine, if not better for those. Really no need for a smartphone 🤦

It's about 'poor people' who prioritise the latest iphone instead of the basic essentials like food!

I quoted your post in my last post, but I've done it again so you can see that YOU wrote people prioritising the latest iPhone over essentials like food.
That's what I was responding to.

And yes I've made assumptions about you in exactly the same way you have about poor people and their priorities, but then maybe I'm not allowed to because I'm poor?

Did I say EVERYBODY who is poor prioritises the latest iPhone? No, I didnt.

[quote Snackasaurus]@Doodiesbear If you bothered to read my previous comments, you would know that I wasn't previously talking about iPhones. I was talking about smartphones in general! I replied to that comment as the PP as mentioned iPhones.

'People like me' shows you're making assumptions about me when you know nothing about me! I work like you do, I have a cheap £99 smartphone that I saved up for as I couldn't pay outright for and used my old phone while I did so!

So instead of making assumptions about me being 'privileged', perhaps read my previous comments instead of jumping in head first!![/quote]
The issue is people are using comments like this to justify the lack of support (financial or otherwise) towards a very vulnerable section of the population.

What's more desirable? For everyone in a certain situation to suffer, or everyone to be at least ok,even if some end up with an iphone x or whatever?

There will never be change or improvement when people turn a blind eye to the government failures,cuts to essential services,lack of support,reliance on food banks etc because they're too busy focusing on what phone or whatever "luxury" a poor person(or 10) might have.