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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to be really excited about the higher wages we're all going to get?

161 replies

HepzibahNutter · 06/10/2021 18:23

I think we've all been a bit worried about the ol' money now you can't buy petrol or food and all the gas is really expensive, plus universal credit has got cut. But thankfully the government says we'll all be paid more instead. This is brilliant news! I'm really looking forward to it. Aren't you?

OP posts:
Spudlet · 07/10/2021 09:21

I presume when we level up there’ll be some kind of light show, maybe a cool graphic or a sound effect? And normally there’s some text on the screen. Plus we may get access to new buffs or items, or maybe some new quests. I can’t wait!

NotMyJobToFixProblemsIMade · 07/10/2021 09:22

NHS family here - super duper news. Can't wait to hear about the fair and equitable pay rise for those who spent 18 months putting their lives at risk (and the lives of those they live with) treating and helping die in best way patients with a highly infectious disease, while getting Covid twice before vaccination.
Suspect we will all have to share one knighthood for the NHS between us though...

Also waiting to hear who Boris expects to fix the problems he created with Brexit, assuming it's not his job.

Spudlet · 07/10/2021 09:23

@SweeneyToddler Yep, I do feel for you, with your actual food and fuel and stuff. It must be very difficult for you to see what fun we’re all having over here Sad

MrsSkylerWhite · 07/10/2021 09:24

Don’t get too exited, the increased NI will take care of that.

NotMyJobToFixProblemsIMade · 07/10/2021 09:25

Why do people vote for these fools

Take the average dimwit in the street and assume they are the average intelligence...

Then realise that for them to be the average intelligence, half of the population has to be even more stupid than them...

NotMyselfWithoutCoffee · 07/10/2021 09:27

Nhs here, every time we get a pay rise I swear something else seems to go up (council tax, inflation) so in the end I never notice it much.
We had a pay rise recently and I'm now putting more money into pension, so my actual monthly pay hasn't really changed.
I guess if covid doesn't get me I'll finally see the benefits..in 40 years.

BungleandGeorge · 07/10/2021 09:29

[quote HepzibahNutter]@BungleandGeorge I was a secretary in 1999, for a small company on the outskirts of London. I earnt £19k for typing out letters from a dictation machine. The people who dictated the letters earnt at least £37k. Shortly after I went to work in the city and earnt £25k for typing out letters from a dictation machine. £17k was definitely definitely not a professional salary in 1999.[/quote]
So you were extremely well paid but that was a junior professional salary in 1999. The average hourly rate was £8.60 in 1999 (around £16500 per year) and it’s now £15.60 (around £30000 per year). That’s the average a ross the population shop workers and waitresses were not paid those amounts then or now

NettleTea · 07/10/2021 09:30

I think its a new take on the meritocracy falacy

ie, if you earn a shit ton, its because you deserve to earn it because of all the hard work daddy got you an internship after Eton and SKILLED WORK that you do

and if you are still scraping by on minimum wage and cut to the bone benefits, well you are obviously not working hard enough to get yourself skilled

DisappearingGirl · 07/10/2021 09:31

It's brilliant that now COVID has gone, we don't need any of those keyworkers anymore and they can all go and get Better Jobs and earn More Money!

Sylvvie · 07/10/2021 09:31

I like how they bleat on abut upskilling but completely stripped the ability of the JobCenter to actually put you forward for training based roles and apprenticeships.

"The whole point is to get people into jobs, any job, no matter what" my JC coach said to me when I was working, but looking to retrain. Then why the fuck am I at these meetings? I'm already employed.

SweeneyToddler · 07/10/2021 09:35

[quote Spudlet]@SweeneyToddler Yep, I do feel for you, with your actual food and fuel and stuff. It must be very difficult for you to see what fun we’re all having over here Sad[/quote]
It’s tough.

I remember a few years ago, I was in England on holiday and sitting in road works traffic (on a road that had a huge sign saying that the works were part-funded through the EU development plan) and the news came through that there had been a referendum that day and the majority of voters had voted in favour of leaving the EU.

I remember sitting there, on that half-finished road, thinking about the people I’d met since arriving in England on holidays and how so many of those in service and hospitality jobs were non-British European Union citizens and I wondered what would happen once all of those people left, and who would clean hotels, work in restaurants, drive taxis, deliver freight, build houses etc in their place.

I need not have worried. Now that all those bloody foreigners are no longer stealing jobs in Britain, it’s clear to see that all of the money they were taking from the country has now meant that everyone else has much more money. It certainly doesn’t mean a shortage of labour, or an impact on state finances. No siree.

And I bet Johnny Foreigner thought you lot would be begging them to come back and drive your trucks.

The fools.

Spudlet · 07/10/2021 09:42

Yep. I remember going to a local garden centre which had just finished a massive refurb, funded at least partly by the EU Rural Development fund, which was full of people cooing over how naice it was. Then you look at the number of people who voted Leave around here, and the dermographics of the vote generally, and you realise how many of the cooing people must, statistically, have voted to leave that nasty old EU. Then your head explodes 🤯

It’s ok though, cos the unicorns are going to fix it.

SummersOverSeasideTown · 07/10/2021 09:43

I must say I am positively looking forward to paying more for goods and services when the businesses increase costs as they have to cover wages, I will certainly feel richer in my work all hours but pay freeze job. Curry said I just have to ask for more hours did she? Ah well sleeping is for wimps.

NotMyJobToFixProblemsIMade · 07/10/2021 09:49

@SummersOverSeasideTown

I must say I am positively looking forward to paying more for goods and services when the businesses increase costs as they have to cover wages, I will certainly feel richer in my work all hours but pay freeze job. Curry said I just have to ask for more hours did she? Ah well sleeping is for wimps.
Curry was on radio 2 yesterday suggesting that someone who was losing their UC uplift should ask their employer for a car. Yes, that is exactly what employers of those on minimum wages are just waiting to be asked to do. Love to hear if anyone took her advice.
NettleTea · 07/10/2021 09:59

@Sylvvie

I like how they bleat on abut upskilling but completely stripped the ability of the JobCenter to actually put you forward for training based roles and apprenticeships.

"The whole point is to get people into jobs, any job, no matter what" my JC coach said to me when I was working, but looking to retrain. Then why the fuck am I at these meetings? I'm already employed.

yes, but once you are in a job, any job - if it doesnt pay enough they will still be on your back to get a better one
the80sweregreat · 07/10/2021 10:11

Who will do the ' low skilled ' jobs that need doing then ?
Because those type of jobs such as cleaning , retail , bin collections etc are just as important as anyone else.
I bet the cleaners in the nhs working for an agency won't receive a pay rise !
I don't understand how they think things will work without people doing all manner of different jobs?
Not everyone needs to be highly skilled , but they are just as important to society

Brainwave89 · 07/10/2021 10:22

At the weekend I had a Romanian friend stopping with me. We spent about 1 1/4 hours driving around looking for petrol and then queuing for it. We then went in the supermarket, which had clear shortages and was low on stock in many areas. My friend said it made her quite nostalgic for "the old days" in communist Romania.... We all seem quite placid. No fuel, lots of queues and Christmas looks a mess again. Boris says it is nothing to do with him...bollocks... and we need to aim for a high wage economy... I do not disagree with this, but he has frozen public sector pay in most areas, and even in areas like nursing, the increase will not be enough when higher inflation kicks in. What we need right now is a real opposition to tear Boris a new one... but that is not happening... and Boris remains like a smug arrogant child watching us all get poorer whilst his position actually strengthens.

Maverickess · 07/10/2021 10:29

@the80sweregreat

Who will do the ' low skilled ' jobs that need doing then ? Because those type of jobs such as cleaning , retail , bin collections etc are just as important as anyone else. I bet the cleaners in the nhs working for an agency won't receive a pay rise ! I don't understand how they think things will work without people doing all manner of different jobs? Not everyone needs to be highly skilled , but they are just as important to society
The people that have done them all along. Only now it's government approved to be able to blame them for being unskilled, lazy and uninspired and thus poor and will justify removing support for those working a 40+ hour week but still not being able to afford the cost of living. The only indicator of someone's worth is their paycheck after all, not what they contribute to society in other ways. Although Sajid Javid has been reported to say that people need to look after their own families rather than rely on the state for social care, perhaps there'll be a lot more of these better paid jobs when people have to give them up in order to do that? At least that'll free up us lazy, uninspired and unskilled care workers to go and upskill and earn more 🙄 Not sure what providers are going to do though, how will they maintain their profit margin? 🤷
the80sweregreat · 07/10/2021 10:38

People giving up their jobs to look after elderly parents is a nice idea in principle, but not in theory as this have to earn money and carers allowances are pitiful.
Once again another rich MP without a bloody clue.
Makes me mad.

HesterAndPearlInBrightSunshine · 07/10/2021 10:41

People giving up their jobs to look after elderly parents is a nice idea in principle, but not in theory as this have to earn money and carers allowances are pitiful.

You need to rephrase this. It's WOMEN giving up their jobs in the vast majority of cases.
Women getting entrapped because of lack of support and infrastructure.
This government is widening the pay gap.

the80sweregreat · 07/10/2021 10:45

@HesterAndPearlInBrightSunshine

People giving up their jobs to look after elderly parents is a nice idea in principle, but not in theory as this have to earn money and carers allowances are pitiful.

You need to rephrase this. It's WOMEN giving up their jobs in the vast majority of cases.
Women getting entrapped because of lack of support and infrastructure.
This government is widening the pay gap.

Yes, women of course ..
ACPC · 07/10/2021 10:51

No mention that retail etc is already full of highly skilled graduates? (I am one) Upskilling doesn't guarantee a high paid job.

Ihopeyourcakeisshit · 07/10/2021 10:55

I know a large number of people in retail and hospitality with degrees.

knittingaddict · 07/10/2021 11:02

Of course UC has effectively been cut. Families have relied on the extra money for over a year now and they get used to budgeting with that extra. I'm quite surprised that it's been removed (naive I know) because I think it's a terrible idea to give money and then take it away like that.

If you saw the news last night - massively increased gas prices, increased council tax - then you would see that families will need that extra money more than ever.

knittingaddict · 07/10/2021 11:03

@adawong

No problem getting fuel or food, energy prices have gone up everywhere and UC has not been cut . Why post shit like this?
That was to this post.
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