Slave underclass; No voice, no money, no hope.

[HomeSliceKnowsBest]

Posting for a non Mumsnetter friend...

AIBU to think I am now part of the burgeoning slave underclass in England?

There is no political party which represents my interests or will stand up to the Tory juggernaut, nor does it seem likely there will be one in the near future.

I am stuck in a low pay job with no hope of owning a home nor living in a reasonable quality rental property.

I cannot access help with my increasingly dire mental health as the waiting list is huge.

I live hand to mouth each month, I have no social life or treats as money doesn't permit it and have budgeted down to the last 1p. I do not have the time nor energy to 'take in ironing' , 'do matched betting' etc between kids, work and (badly) running my home.

I will be worked to death, as by the time I am old enough to draw a pension I doubt I will last all that long due to the lifestyle that poverty forces me into.

AIBU to say there is a slave class of people in our population and ask if you think this is deliberate on the part of the Government, to ensure an adequate supply of workers to feed into the machine and earn their peers big money, while keeping us so miserable or strung out on medication that we quietly comply? We are disposable, despised and unheard.
There is not the possibility of working or educating our way out of this situation as there was in the past.
I feel entirely nihilistic and numb plodding through this daily grind for the next 30 years.

I think there are a lot of posts at the moment egging people on to believe life is completely shit. Your post sounds very dramatic! Sorry you are struggling but writing this kind of narrative will become a self fulfilling prophecy.

What's weird is that you are talking as if this is a new thing, rather than representing the way the majority of people have lived throughout history.

Difference is you have had access to free education, have free education for your kids and have free health care. So hardly a slave.

If you feel there is no political party to represent you then you need to do something about that. As you say, you are one of a great number of people in the same position and all with a vote.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

A slave implies no choice in what you can do and usually no wage.

Job choices, hours worked, number of children etc are down to the adult. Everyone has to live within their budget and take personal responsibility, it’s not the governments job to fund people’s choices if they can’t afford what they want.

I would argue that it is the governments job to ensure that everyone has a good standard of living. The level of poverty in the UK is disgraceful. What is the governments job if not to look after it's citizens, that means all of them, not just the ones like them.

Someone has to do the low paying jobs, look where you are now with no truck drivers, where has that left you? It is the governments job to ensure that the people who do those jobs can lead nice lives too.

I worked my way up from the gutter, a victim of toxic stress, complex trauma, depression and anxiety and being a single mum surviving on just a few pounds a week after paying for everything.
I found good medication far better than talking therapy, medication really lifted me out of the tunnel I was in, NHS talking therapies did nothing. I found self help books I took out from the library more useful.
I went to university as a single mum and did an NHS degree - it was extremely hard, nursing wasn't appropriate as it would have meant paying for childcare I could not afford.
I had nobody at all to help me, my family all live abroad.
Now I earn almost 50k and own my own home.
You can do it, you just need to believe in yourself and find something to do that you love. I chose a profession where I would only be working 9-5 with weekends off because of my DC so obviously nursing is not suitable.

but for many they are stuck in the situation of never being able to buy

I’m not naive enough to think everyone can but it’s a matter of priorities for some. I wanted to have the stability of my own home and would never have parental help nor an inheritance so I made choices that allowed that. I worked hard and many hours as is possible before having children, went without lots of luxuries etc on order to save the deposit and didn’t max out a mortgage or look in expensive areas.

Unless very well paid, the time to get on the property ladder is pre children when careers and hours worked can be focused on. Trying after having children, going part time or having an adult not working at all is obviously going to make property ownership harder for many.

You have to remember that nobody is going to help you, not the government or anyone else, you have to actively seek a better life and figure out how you are going to do it.

not being unreasonable but I think your reasoning is wrong, the rich treat us with disdain unaware of the consequences because they are thick and completely out of touch as well as blinded by selfishness and greed.

its the same old history repeating WW1 caused a shift in social welfare because the war brought reality to the fore, the landed gentry suddenly realized the kids they were trying to send off to war were inferior to the enemy, poor, weak and sickly. so that necessity started the push towards improved health and living conditions, social housing and the NHS, social security system and so on.

now those who suffered in ww2 are gone the landed gentry to back to grinding people into the dirt again and expecting them to be greatful, they have learned nothing, if you want productive workers you treat them well, if you want to save the nation money you make sure the people remain in good health for a long time etc. its just greed and stupidity.

Actually there isn't much of a difference between a poor person and a slave.

This is so offensive. Poor people get paid for their labour and their pay cannot go below a legal minimum. Poor people are not forbidden to be literate, but can pursue an education with full student finance to fund it. Poor people cannot be legally raped, killed or subjected to extreme punishments or mutilation at a whim. Poor people can marry and have the comfort of a family, slaves cannot. Slaves can be “bred” like livestock forced to birth new slave “stock” for their master/mistress. Poor people cannot be sold on to new owners, they have the freedom to choose where to live and who to work for. Poor people can flee as refugees and get asylum in another country, slaves that “run away” are either captured and sent back to their owners or hunted down and killed like an animal. Poor people can refuse to be used as guinea pigs in scientific experimentation, slaves cannot and were often used in such a manner. Poor people can keep their organs, slaves get their organs harvested and sold off, sometimes owners would rather get the money for a slaves organs than resell or keep the slave so these people are literally killed and their organs harvested and sold off.

You want to get yourself a book or do some googling and find out what actual slavery is. People are still being trafficked right now. Get a grip.

I understand and agree with the use of the word "slave" in this context is completely uncalled for and outrageous.

There is a slave class, of actual slaves. Being in poverty is obviously bad but is not comparable. Yabu.

@GettingUntrapped

You have a point. Also about medication -antidepressants - propping people up, yet not solving much about their unsatisfying lives. We need a revolution, but not many have the strength or awareness.

How do we decide who runs the country after the revolution?

I too think slave is the wrong term, but I do agree with the sentiment of your post totally.

I've described myself, as a care assistant, as society's skivvy before, because it's how I feel we're treated. I'm not a slave because I don't live under those conditions, but obviously there's an incentive to keep me doing the job I do, and others who do similar jobs under similar conditions, because we're essential to supporting the rest of society. Without the people at the bottom of the ladder holding it up, the whole thing comes down.

Yet, if you bring up you can't afford to live, barely survive on the pay you get, the 'get a better job' brigade start talking about personal choices, and I'd bet some of them rely on the services provided of the low paid to enable them to actually be able to do their better jobs in the first place.

While me, or you OP, getting a better job will improve our individual circumstances, someone else will need to fill the role we currently do under the same conditions, which solves nothing and shunts the problem onto someone else, and when there's no one else, because they don't want to, or can't afford to work under those conditions we start having issues like people not getting care who need it because there's no one to provide it, or empty shelves because there's no one to deliver the food, or not being able to go out for a meal because the restaurant needs to close early due to lack of staff.
So when it starts affecting those who have a voice, suddenly it's a problem, and people demand something is done, so we get things like a rise in NI.
Keeping people in low paid, but essential roles benefits society, and everyone knows this really, but some don't like to admit that. Because we're all in some ways, part of the problem.
The opportunity to better yourself is open to anyone, to a certain degree, but it can't be open to everyone, because then who's going to do the jobs that need doing like driving the trucks or caring for the elderly if everyone has moved on to a better job?

Of course there's an incentive for government and society to keep us where we are, it means that these services are provided as cheaply as possible, yet they are still available to be used by those who need and want them, that in someway benefit their own lives.
It's far cheaper and simpler to keep people in a trap, and blame them for it, than to look at the overall problem and increase the pay and conditions for these jobs, and acknowledge that they're essential and necessary for society to function.

Nobody is kept in a trap people are free to make their own choices.

Yes there will always be jobs that pay less than others so less of a budget to play with but that doesn’t over ride personal responsibility if making lifestyle choices that don’t match the salary.

Students, second household earners, those wanting a second job etc may be happy to pick up the hours so we wouldn’t be left with no workers just because some need to earn more money,

@Maverickess That was such a well written post and I agree with every word of it.

It's far cheaper and simpler to keep people in a trap, and blame them for it, than to look at the overall problem and increase the pay and conditions for these jobs, and acknowledge that they're essential and necessary for society to function.

I think this is very short sighted perspective. Pay has increased and conditions have improved relentlessly for generations. You may not see much difference in your career, but generation to generation the rates of absolute and relative poverty of households in FT work is the lowest it has ever been in human history. The problem is you want pay and conditions to improve at a faster rate than society is capable of. It’s not easy to level up tens of millions of workers.

The word slave is inaccurate and offensive.

Ironically that makes you look privileged if you think that being poor is the same, you are so wrong. Do you belong to anyone? Do you get beaten if you don't do your job? Can you be sold? Are you so terrified by consequences that you don't dare step out of line? Are you forced to work for no pay at all?

Thought not.

@user1473878824

I think using the word slave here is actually quite offensive when we have an actual problem with people being trafficked and used as actual slaves.

I agree.

OP

What is the biggest barrier to earning more?
Is it childcare constraints? ( Which will ease)
Do you need additional training?

Oh and slaves don't have access to Internet forums to complain about it

I work with women and children who are subject to modern slavery. You have no idea what it is to be a slave.

I agree the situation for some people in our country is awful though.

Perfectly put @maverickess

YANBU. I agree 1000000% with the pp who said labour should allow an alternative party if they cannot get their act together. IMO there will be a new party emerge fairly soon as within a few years there will be literally zero opposition and people will not stand for it anymore. I think there is a serious lack of political understanding and education in our schools and therefore people do not understand how the system works.

My advice to you personally would be to try and see if you can find another job. You may well be able to. It’s a small thing, it’s unfair but the only way you can change your day to day life in the current climate is to change your job. Don’t give up on trying that as this is something you can change, but I know that’s not easy but you can try and find something better that will give you some more money. Life is a struggle you are right but please don’t give up hope- find hope in small steps you can take, in the long term it will change the future for you. Good luck xxxx

Job choices, hours worked, number of children etc are down to the adult. that's very much not true. An increasing number of areas are closed to those not able to afford an unpaid work experience period. The importance of connections in your chosen area cannot be overstated. Even hours worked is a problem - many jobs at the bottom end are "flexible" - ie you are contracted for, say, 16 hours, but expected to be on call 16 hours a day, 7 days a week - if you turn down offers for extra hours you very soon won't get offered any. And this flexibility for the employer makes it hard for you to take on another fixed hours contract to make up a full working week. I grant that children are a choice but do we really want a society where only the well-off can have children?

Using the word slave here is offensive.

Also at least some of your outcome is due to your choices - not least reproductive choices. E.g. you might be in a different situation had you had fewer or no children.

You are very unreasonable to use the word slave and to consider your life akin to that of a slave.