@Freecuthbert no actually I don't have a TV, a car or a tv license or sky. Never had a phone contract before. But I don't think the people who owns tvs, cars or have sky are necessarily richer than me, i just think they spend their money differently. I also didn't plan a big wedding, I saved the money so that we could buy our flat more quickly. I do know many people who have chosen differently, and they spent the little money they had on their wedding, which is fine as well. We are all different.
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4158597,00.html
I don't think ultra orthodox people who are in poverty want to spent a lot of money on weddings, but due to the ritual aspects and even if you just invite immediate relatives, it does end up costing quite a lot of money as big weddings are the norm- just on the kosher food alone! And yes parents do pay. Which is now ultra orthodox rabbis have put a limit on how much they can spend. And say even if feeding 1 person is £20 (which is overly optimistic for kosher food, its probably more like double), its £6000 for food alone for 300 people which is still a pretty big expense. Most uk weddings are pretty small so that already naturally cuts down expenses. I do think that a lot of uk weddings are extravagant nowadays because people marry later and other than the small minority of religious people, it tends to be more MC people who see the value in marrying!
My point wasn't that poor people on benefits in the UK are not suffering and are spending money on frivolous things. my point is that not all poor people lead similar lives, there are poor people who can and do have higher costs in terms of clothing and weddings etc. However, just because they have these costs, it doesn't mean that they aren't deprived in other ways and its their choice how they want to spend their money. Like I wouldn't dream of doubting that a poor person is in poverty just because he happens to have an Iphone or that a pensioner isn't poor because she happens to own a £1 million house (this is quite common in london due to property price inflation), I would not assume affording Boden would be completely crazy for someone on a low income. Particularly as we have discussed, Boden is far cheaper than suits, weddings for 300 people, fur hats. Of course it is probably more unusual for a poor person to prioritize Boden given that its just a brand rather than a religious obligation/cultural expectation!
How do you know that they are not paying for these weddings and hats out of pocket? Do you have access to their bank accounts? Even when you claim UC, you are still allowed to have savings (not exceeding £12k or something, i recall). And they would still be poor because the definition of poverty is based on your income. There is a minimum income standard determined by the Joseph Rowntree foundation and it is also area dependent i.e. inner london is higher.
www.minimumincome.org.uk/step1/
If you fall below the minimum income based on your area and your household size, you are poor. For a couple in inner london, they need to earn a combined income of £52k to not be poor. I don't even want to calculate how much it is for a family of 8, the minimum income standard only covers up to 4 children anyway. For a couple outside london, you need to earn at least 13k per person to not be poor. This doesn't include whether you have savings or not.
And this is why my MIL is the bottom 10% of the country cos she is still supporting an adult child and the minimum income for a single parent in Outer London with a teenage child is £33000. She earns around half of that, way below london living wage. And even when she had 4 little ones, she earned the same or even less and that was very very tight.