Panorama( Young families Struggling)

[dottydodah]

Did anyone see this last evening? A lady with 2 small DC and a husband working as a Research Scientist was struggling with bills .Another young Mum in tears as her energy bill was so high.A third lady (working as a Nurse) not able to run a car. How will they manage to keep going? Surely Govt could do more?

How do you know they are having them later or having fewer because it's unaffordable? There could be many reasons.

There are plenty of legitimate sources you can google. How do you know affordability isn't a factor?

Most couples get married far older now. No real reason for that unless it's because they want an expensive wedding and have to save for it.

Yes people get married later now because they want an expensive wedding 🤔

@mydogisthebest people are getting married later because people are staying in education longer.

@kerrypeeper over population in the West is due to people living longer.

@RedWingBoots and yet everyone thinks it's because everyone is having 5 kids 🙄

@elbea I saw the kind of shop she ran and raised my eyebrows.

I live in a relatively wealthy area of London and those kind of shops don't survive here.

Funnily what would be regarded as an ethnic food shop so has foods targeted at specific nationalities in it do survive, as they draw a wide range of customers.

Conservatism doesn't seem to have solutions. I am confused as growing up, Conservatives promised that you will be OK if you work hard. It is very strange.

[quote RedWingBoots]@mydogisthebest people are getting married later because people are staying in education longer.[/quote]
Well plenty of people only stay in education until 18, 19, maybe 20. So why are so many not getting married until they are 30 plus?

I get that some want to save money to buy a house or flat but not all couples do that.

Just watching this now so placemarking

So why are so many not getting married until they are 30 plus?

It's not because the majority want a big wedding though...

The thought I had is 2 kids so they’d get child tax credits £65 per child each week and child benefit. If both adults working how can they not have money for food
I get rents and bills are stupidly high but if you can’t afford the place your in and can’t afford food would t you do everything to get out of that even so far as relocating, no takeaways, no nights out, no nails done, cheaper school uniforms ?

What’s shocking is we still have an elected Tory government. Poverty is a political choice & as many pp’s have said; the Conservative party do not give a f* about normal people. There’s a reason politics isn’t compulsory at school - if everyone understood the system we are all in, they’d never vote conservative. For capitalism to work; you must have poor people. I’m not advocating extreme socialism, but it’s an outrage and un-humanitarian this is the state of the UK in 2022. Please consider alternatives to the Conservative party xo

Well plenty of people only stay in education until 18, 19, maybe 20. So why are so many not getting married until they are 30 plus?

Because we aren't in the 1950s or 1960s

@mydogisthebest I married at 22 but left a training contract at a law firm in my home country to move to Europe. I wasn't happy living in my country so I thought it was better to move when I had little than to wait and do long distance with my then boyfriend (now DH) who I met at university in London. My parents objected to it.

I mean, I am still childless at 29 and I got a job as soon as I moved to London and we saved up to buy our flat/have our wedding celebration so in a sense I am not really different from a 20 something who cohabitated with her boyfriend until they could afford the fancy wedding and house (except that I was legally married the whole time). But most women don't do what I did, I think they would have broken up with a boyfriend who was in a foreign country/city cos they wouldn't have felt that they were established enough to marry. And maybe they would have been really busy with career and not be able to meet anyone suitable at work or on dating apps. Covid has not made that easier, 2 years of prime dating life were lost.

I can completely see how many people would not marry until they are in their 30s. I was just lucky I think.

I met my DH at uni but didn't marry until a decade later. We needed to establish our careers & mature & save for a house

Well plenty of people only stay in education until 18, 19, maybe 20. So why are so many not getting married until they are 30 plus?

People see their 20s as an extension of their teens now - that it should be a time of low responsibility, lots of partying etc. I have quite a few friends in their 20s and the lifestyles are pretty uniform - reasonably well paid grad jobs, but living in an expensive inner-city flat share, going to festivals and drinking most weekends etc. I did suggest to one friend that she move to a cheaper (commutable) area on the outskirts of the city to save some cash towards buying a place. She thought I was mad, the only place to live is in the city centre apparently.

The issue with all this is that it only gives a narrow window in their early 30s to pull it all together in preparation of settling down.

But obviously that’s a million miles away from what we’re seeing here.

@Organictangerine the thing in London is that rooms in zone 2 are often not significantly more expensive than rooms in zone 5 when you account for transport costs. So you might as well live more centrally if you are ok with a smaller space (which is fine if you are a single or even a young couple). Different when you are buying obviously esp if you are buying houses. I have done extensive calculations and research and for 2 city workers (DH and myself), the sweet spot for buying is a 2 bed flat in zone 3. Cheaper than zone 2 and only slightly higher transport fares. However, it's different for rental.

@Smileyaxolotl1

Unfortunately a mobile phone and email (therefore internet) are pretty essential for finding jobs or responding to employers. Including, in the NHS, filling in the hours you can work or checking shifts. If you have a smart phone (even second hand) you can do without a laptop.

I may watch this. Do they provide a detailed financial breakdown of income vs outgoings? And rise of costs/bills over time?

Someone on my local facebook site is now setting up fundraising for the Nurse and asking for donations.

[quote desiringonlychild2022]@Organictangerine the thing in London is that rooms in zone 2 are often not significantly more expensive than rooms in zone 5 when you account for transport costs. So you might as well live more centrally if you are ok with a smaller space (which is fine if you are a single or even a young couple). Different when you are buying obviously esp if you are buying houses. I have done extensive calculations and research and for 2 city workers (DH and myself), the sweet spot for buying is a 2 bed flat in zone 3. Cheaper than zone 2 and only slightly higher transport fares. However, it's different for rental.[/quote]
It’s not London!

[quote mydogisthebest]**@Antarcticant but no reason or need to have 3 children. Just because she could, presumably, afford them at the time doesn't mean she would always be able to afford them if things changed.

If people stick with 1 or 2 then there is far more chance they will manage if something happens. For a start benefits are only paid for 2 so having more is not sensible.

So many women/couples just don't think about it. My neighbours have just had their 4th child. Neither of them work (well not officially but he works cash in hand). If anything happens to one of them or they split up they will never manage.[/quote]
But there is no reason to have any children, other than that people want them. (I say this as someone who is childfree by choice). I don't think three falls under the 'excessive' heading.

@kerrypeeper

I met my DH at uni but didn't marry until a decade later. We needed to establish our careers & mature & save for a house

There was a thread regarding this.... People who have support/knowledge family to encourage you on the correct path & advise you.

How very nice for you two though 🙄

Here's an idea. Stop bloody voting Tory. Whatever you think (or maybe you don't give it a thought), as a Scot, I'm sick to the back teeth of our vote (where the Tories will never succeed) meaning so little when the rest of the UK keeps voting in these useless eejits who exist on an entirely different plane from the rest of us.

I really can’t understand someone who still votes Tory after they’ve spent the last decade shitting the bed.
They have proven themselves to be greedy, incompetent twats who are content to let the country slide into financial crisis.
Yep, Labour have been shit at providing opposition, but anyone who thinks still voting Tory is a good idea obviously lives in a very different world.

@Mojoj women of childbearing age (most of Mumsnet) statistically don't tend to vote Tory. It's the above 50s who do. And their financial situation is very different from those in their 20s and 30s. Theoretically rise in cost of living should hit those on fixed incomes like pensions but many in that generation also have assets like BTL which are doing fine esp now rents are increasing (and the mortgage is probably mostly paid up).

Cost of living should hit red wall disproportionately so they should lose a lot of votes there. They mostly drive (petrol) and their wages are not likely to increase in line with inflation.