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?

Remember Elsie

I work in the public sector on 35k a year. I have only been on this salary for a year having recently qualified in my role. Prior to that I was on NMW. I thought all my problems would be solved on what I considered to be a decent salary. Only to find that I am scraping by. I have zero debt other than a small car payment on a Ford Ka which I need for work.
The reality is that my rent, council tax, utilities and petrol come to nearly 2/3rds of my salary. I can't move anywhere cheaper due to children being mid A Levels and providing care to relatives.
I've already taken up one extra job and I'm looking for another one. Just to be able to breathe. After years of scrimping on WTC and minimum wage I thought things would be better.

@Completelyovernonsense I never said it has to affect a majority to constitute a crisis. I just wondered whether it would be a crisis personally for the majority of people.

And MN is a great place to seek national averages and statistics....

Wait until winter and see how much it costs to heat homes.

@ReneBumsWombats Well, I’ve consulted Mumsnet several times in the past about various issues and there’s a lot of exceptionally intelligent women in all kinds of professional fields. I thought maybe there are some economists or forecasters or some such.

🙄

Explain then.

It will be a crisis as, I’m sure it’s already been pointed out above, as even those who can afford the higher heating bill will have less disposable income to spend.
We can suck up a 400£ bill each month in winter, but this money would have been spent at a local takeaway, a cafe, weekend away in the UK, presents for bday etc. None of which we can afford now. Those business’ are likely to fold. In most places, there aren’t enough of the super wealthy who can pay higher costs and still have loads left over.

I guess we're middle class, DH is a university professor. This month, first time in 20 + years we have no money left a week before payday. We're extremely lucky in that the bills are paid and the cupboards full. My heart breaks for people who are worse off.

Someone here shared an article here yesterday about a food bank having to close it doors on hundreds of hungry families as they had no food left an hour after opening. I was sobbing over it as it was my hometown and as a child I grew up in poverty there. Normally I'd respond by making a donation but this time I have nothing to give.

I am so frightened for people right now.

I think we're not in the worst of it yet and too many people have their heads in the sand.

Ah yes, the "poor people are poor because they are irresponsible with money" trope.

A quick Google tells you more than one in five of the UK population (22%) are in poverty– 14.5 million people. So I’d say that many, many folk are in ‘crisis’.

How secure is any job too? I was thinking yesterday about my new job. Childcare. If all the parents begin loosing their jobs then I will loose mine.
I really worry that virtually everyone (apart from possibly emergency services and key services) is going to face redundancy.
It's really scary and not as all helpful to suggest there is no financial crisis happening for many.

@buzzheath I agree, nobody should have to genuinely suffer in modern England.

Just the rest of us in the UNITED KINGDOM that have to suffer then!🙄🙄🙄

@gracielooloo Chill, I meant the UK

Not at the moment struggling but we will.

We are feeling it on vehicle fuel and food. Our energy fix ends next October. Then it will double overnight I reckon.

A lot of people I support work wise are feeling it now though and it’s crap.

It's starting to become a crisis for some. I have been teaching for 24 years, my take home pay has decreased by £20 due to increased NI contributions, yet my energy bill (fixed) has increased this month by £180 per month. Thankfully I do not live alone now, otherwise I literally could not have afforded this.
I have colleagues who live alone and they will not be able to afford this kind of hit.
One of my colleagues has 4 kids and his energy company want over £500 a month off him. He said the other day that he and his wife literally do not have the money. It's crazy.

We all have a different story. On the face of it we're not struggling but I'm pushing 42 and still don't own a property. I could do without stupidly expensive bills to pay

The crisis hasn't even started yet.

If renters cant pay rent cos they get caught out by just one gas / electricity bill in October it has a ripple effect. Just a few defaulting would mean an increase in homelessness.

It only has to be an increase of a percentage or two to become a real crisis.

The 'most people' thing is a massive red herring.

Tbh the lack of savings people have is a terrifying prospect because there is little room for a sizeable number of people to be able to cope if they have just unexpectedly large expense.

The crisis hasn't even started yet.

This.

Its what Martin Lewis is trying to warn about.

This is getting boring. You sound very tiresome. Either engage meaningfully or stop commenting with your pedantry on my posts

Tiresome? You're rude to the posters who take you to task and pin you down on what you've actually said. My 7 year old can debate better than that.

So do you think that more than 50% of the population will be in poverty? You keep telling me off for the “tone” of my question but if you go back and read it, that was always my enquiry

No. You asked if YWBU to think this is not a crisis for most people. It is not pedantry to point out that this is a completely different question.

Please point out ONCE that I've 'told you off for the tone of your post,' never mind 'keep' doing it.

You're making things up - what I've said, perceived slights at you, being rude to people who disagree. Grow up and debate properly.

That’s not intended to be patronising but you seem to not actually understand my question

🙄Yes. You're much too smart for the likes of me.

If you really wanted to know, then I'm sure Google could assist you. As a pp pointed out, the JRF stats show that 22% of the UK population are living in poverty, including many who are working. Those people by definition have minimal or no spare in their budget to cope with significant increases in essential expenditure. So for most of those people, the current increase in fuel, utilities and food will already put them in crisis.

Above them there is presumably a large swathe of the population who have managed okay until fairly recently, but will be increasingly heading towards trouble as the effect of the cost-of-living increases feed through. Exactly how and when people are affected will depend on their circumstances: people with a mortgage are going to be increasingly squeezed; people with four teenagers living at home will be affected by food cost increases more than a couple living on their own; people who live rurally and need a car to access work are being hit harder by the increase in petrol than city-dwellers who can use public transport.

In the medium-term, the effect of people cutting back on expenditure will affect small businesses, and businesses becoming unprofitable will inevitably result in people losing their jobs or having their hours cut, which then creates its own recessionary downward spiral.

At all levels, the 'Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness' will apply: we've just paid an eyewatering amount to fill our oil tank, but we have also spent a chunk of money over the past couple of years upping our insulation, adding secondary glazing and solar panels, so that £900 of oil will now last us longer than someone who has not had the funds to carry out those works to their house.