To think the cost of living crisis isn't really a "crisis" for most people?

[buzzheath]

Not meant to be inflammatory at all. I'm well aware of the hardships that some people and families will face. But for the majority of people in the UK, will it really be a "crisis"? Isn't around half of the population middle class?

I don’t think it’s really biting yet. Predictions for fuel prices are pretty scary. I’m not in danger of losing my house or anything, but I have started eating into savings and do need to cut back on current spending now to address that. We’re in the lucky position of not having to worry about cost of food shop or having a take away. We will be carefully budgeting going forward. Household income in top 20% and have a small mortgage.

We won’t be anywhere near thrown into poverty, but we are going to have to reduce our costs quite a bit and arguably see a decline in standard of living.

i can’t see how this won’t trigger a recession (fuel prices + inflation). 2007 recession pushed us from comfortable to on benefits. It was awful. We’re just back on track following the pandemic, which hit us hard. In 2007 we had a little equity in our home and no savings, we aren’t in that position now but I honestly don’t think many people will be immune from current financial difficulties. Feels like we’re waiting for a crash.

I think some people were in crisis before it started, and more are being pished into crisis. The issue really is its only just beginning so who know how many people will have problems in another year.

But for now plenty have enough to be just fine

Some people may be directly okay but this is a crisis nationally speaking, it worsens inequality and nations with higher inequality always do worse.

We have a good income but a lot of mouths to feed (small holding). Everything is going up.

We are cutting back but we’ll be ok. Lots won’t though, and I know that because I’m not stupid or self involved.

This is where we are TBH. Notice price increases finding at end of month were in dipping into over drafts - everything going up a bit and it's noticeable and prompting us to think about possible changes.

However we do have saving pots put by and we are still overpaying the mortgage - and there are things we can cut still.

We have two years holiday savings - were dithering about what to do and how much of it we should/could spend.

We did think long weekend - but looking at costs DH is dithering again.

Come winter with energy costs and increased food costs - I expect to feel it a bit more and planning to cut back at Christmas this year.

I'm one of the sandwich generation: having to support parents with very low incomes in retirement as well as kids. It took me a long time to get my head around the difference between my life and prospects and schoolfriends from families where inheritances from relatives start kicking in from their fifties - we are just on very different trajectories.
My response has been to focus on the people in my life, I have plenty of debt and am fortunate to earn well, but life is too short to see those I care for struggle.
Those of us who remember negative equity and 15% mortgage interest feel for those who will have just gotten their feet on the housing ladder and will have some very anxious years to come.
If you can afford to help people, please do. When folks are on their knees, a loan is a gift, consider any repayment a bonus. Also, while it's not your fault that you can afford a brand new BMW and a month in Sardinia, please don't expect those struggling to celebrate your success - slowing down your consumption in sympathy will be appreciated.

It only seems to not be a "crisis" for most, to you, because of the circles you move in. I work with lots of families, some with unemployed parents and some working, who are already struggling and frightened. Families who have no money for food or formula (which the local food banks don't supply).

I think people are split down the middle. An example of this is another thread whereby someone is talking about their cheap Aldi shop and you get the usual snooty types turning up their noses at such a thing, saying it might be cheap but its not 'good food'.

Well it is just food and suits us certainly.

But the difference betweenn people like that who dont have to check their prices and people that do are all over this site, there are plenty in the former category.

Hi OP, sorry at some of the reactions. We live in an East Midlands town, it really is a town of two halves, many on UC or unemployed , others in a more comfortable financial position. I usually shop at Lidl and have seen people stop the conveyor when they have reached their spend limit. Our daughter has a colleague who is on mat leave from the doctors surgery and is using a food bank. We are doing ok, but the killer is petrol we are quite remote ( nearest biggish town 15 miles for work ) . I worry for our grown up kids with not so much disposable income when the prices increase later this year.

But a couple on a combined six figure income is far from "most people". £100k after tax is about £6k a month which according to this would put such a couple in about the 95th centile of households by wealth - www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2021/households-below-average-income-an-analysis-of-the-income-distribution-fye-1995-to-fye-2021

DH and I are in this category and no, the cost of living crisis hasn't really hit us yet. Bills have gone up a bit, we've compensated by saving a bit less and not having a foreign holiday this year but we haven't really felt it.

That doesn't mean things aren't going to get much worse - we're still vulnerable to redundancy if the economy contracts and as PP have said, this has the potential to be a systemic crisis where the cost of everything increases and inflation stays really high. In that case it will be a "crisis" even for high earners - we're just not quite there yet.

I'm certainly worried it's going to get a lot worse. For now most people won't have had to remortgage, will still have secure jobs, and will be on a fixed energy tariff. We're on good incomes that I think are fairly secure and more likely to rise than drop but watching the values of our savings drop as costs go up hasn't been pleasant. Not the best time for another baby and chucking in a secure job to go part time but it can't be helped!

For now we've basically said no major saving spends for the next 3-5 years until we see what's happening and upped our donation to the local food bank.

Wait until winter. I think many more will find it a crisis then, unfortunately.

Hi OP, sorry at some of the reactions

Why on earth are you apologising on behalf of other people's perfectly valid opinions and feelings? That's astonishing. Some people feel terrified or what they - or people they love - are facing. They will rightly feel incredibly emotional about it.

"Apologising" for them is arrogant and reductive.

@89redballoons similar here. It's worrying.

There's no agreement on whether a recession is coming. Travel for instance has seen demand increase by 150%: construction, no sign of slowing. Manufacturing, demand is breaking records.
However, the supply of materials and logistical issues are choking the global economy. Covid is still around causing menace.
I still cannot get my head around these enormous DD people are paying to the utility companies. Why are people doing it?
We used 206 kW last month that's £15.65.
I do feel the government should be buffering the energy companies going bust, that's not the consumer's fault. Although the days of the room stat being set at 22c all day every day are over.

Some will be caught up in the swiss effect of short-medium-long term decision-making. Definitely. There's no solution for that. Ignorance is bliss.

Well said. The phrasing of this OP post gives away her real thoughts. It's not that bad, apparently according to OP. Just you wait.

And I agree that in our place in the table of economic wealthy countries, that even one family has to use a Foodbank and choose between heating and eating it's a fucking disgrace and everyone who has voted Tory with their cuts and policies to widen the gap between wealthy and the rest of the population is to blame.

The national average isn't that a couple is on a combined six-figure income.

The average salary in the UK is about £30k but that's skewed by the pandemic and by the higher numbers in London.

20% of the UK population live in poverty.

That's one in five - already living in poverty even before the cost of living increases. Groups with protected characteristics are even more likely to be affected as disability, sex, race, etc, are all additional aggravators for poverty.

Your posts have a smidgeon of 'poor people can just do without ... cars, heating, etc.' The point is that the multi-nationals won't be cutting back. That they are recording record profits whilst pushing up prices. That the Government is quite happy to tell people to tighten their belts knowing it doesn't affect MPs (whose average salary is almost three times the national average). We're not 'all in this together' . This is about the wealthy continuing to get wealthy whilst the vulnerable will suffer. The UK has a very high level of income inequality compared to other developed countries - that isn't something that 'just happened'. It's as a direct result of Government policy. And no-one should be trying to pretend this isn't really a crisis and it doesn't really matter. It does matter. And if you're not affected by it, it costs you precisely nothing to read the statistics and consider whether being one of the countries with the most income inequality is something to be proud of, or something we should be challenging and shouting from the bloody rooftops about.

I meant that inevitably there would be criticism of being tone deaf as there always is on this type of thread. It actually astonishes me that people ask questions or comment when some reactions are quite aggressive and judgemental. Not making light of how others feel at all, but I expect you will find someone else to have a pop at soon.

We lived through the last one XDH lost his job, I got promoted. Swings & roundabouts most people will be absolutely fine and that’s what pisses me off with the threads on here and on Facebook. There’s no need for sheer terror 🙄

I’m lucky in that no, it isn’t a “crisis” for me. I can pay my bills, eat etc. Currently I have some surplus cash which gets spent on “luxuries” it’s these I have been cutting down on. I no longer eat out on a regular basis, it’s a rare treat for something like a birthday. I also rarely get a takeaway now. No cafes, pub, cinema, other events. I don’t miss it that much, I got used to not doing these things during covid. But the knock on effect of others doing as I’m doing (and I’m sure there are many) is these businesses will struggle, many will close, more people will lose their jobs.

There is a baseline amount that people need to live on, in order not to need to use food banks etc. The ones below that will obviously suffer the most. But our economy also needs people spending on the non essentials. Many of the people not in “crisis” will still be tightening their belts so they have more of a cushion for increased costs. We don’t exist in a vacuum. You have to look at the bigger picture.

An example of this is another thread whereby someone is talking about their cheap Aldi shop and you get the usual snooty types turning up their noses at such a thing, saying it might be cheap but its not 'good food'.

That seems to be an Aldi is cheap surprise thread if it's one I'm thinking of - were as I've been Aldi shopping fairly regularly for past 16 years and have seen price increase/decreases over that time and think were in quite a price hike time.

We are in a much better position than last time food price crept up though - when kids were young and we'd just bought our first house taking all our savings. Though then IL did my head in, just two them, who had huge stocked cupboards and freezers and had time and space to grow their own food kept telling us we were imagining the price increases when we were feeding 5 of us.

In some respects, the worst of it just hasn't hit yet. The energy increases from April hit at the same time as people naturally lowered their usage, the number of posters floating about saying it hasn't made a difference to their bills is ridiculous. Then there are others on the price cap who haven't yet absorbed the scale of increase expected in October - and how that hits just as their usage increases for winter.

Meanwhile, the base rate is increasing, and the cost of debt will rise. Those on fixed rate mortgages haven't necessarily adjusted for the increase in mortgage expenditure that lies ahead.

So some people think they are doing just fine and they aren't - they just don't know it yet.

However, on the whole I agree, I think those with little money would be surprised by the sheer number of people who will sail through the cost of living crisis without much more than a disgruntled murmur and the media won't do much to highlight that inequality either - just more 'were all in it together' bullshit.

Working in the public sector and having successive pay rises below inflation year upon year I can assure you that people are noticing the impact and are struggling (even those who once earned a decent salary). I can also assure you that the people we are working with are struggling.

There are some tone deaf posts here and if you aren’t noticing a difference or having to make adjustments to your quality of life I think maybe it is best to keep quiet and be grateful.

OP why are you annoyed at having to explain your post? It clearly does read that you’re doubting what’s happening is a ‘crisis’ for the majority. Others agreeing with you that framing it as such is ‘media hype’.

You asked: Would you have been less annoyed if I'd phrased it "for how many people is the cost of living not going to be a crisis?"

My response is yes. It would’ve been a much better post and lead into a more productive discussion. How you frame your questions matters. And it’s incredibly depressing that nearl half voting agree that you are NBU.

The closest analogy is the climate crisis for which scientists and media have been warning us about for decades to seemingly little effect. I’m personally alright Jack so there can’t be a crisis permeates too much voter thinking. Once we’re actually in full swing of the crisis, the eye of the storm, there’s precious little that we can do.

Accepting it’s a cost of living crisis now for many many people, as well as a looming crisis for a majority in the not too distant future, means that there is still time for our politicians to intervene and mitigate risk. Not that I hold out hope.

By this logic nothing is ever really a crisis.

The majority of us are not going to die of Covid.

In the big recession of the 1980s, most people still kept their jobs.

In wars, the majority of people survive.