This may be unpopular - but what about the squeezed middle?

[AndroidUsername]

They are talking about raising taxes on the average person now. Which will really effect lower middle class families who are already feeling the pinch due to increases in cost of food, gas and electic, increasing childcare costs and rent or morgage increases. They are going to increase pensions and benefits with inflation but lots of middle class earners are not having their wages increased with inflation but will now have their taxes increased. What about help for the middle class, especially lower middle class and working class who earn slightly to much to qualify for any help but will now stuggle with all these increases.

The boomer generation may not like to hear it but they’ve had it cushy for decades and not paid anywhere near what they sit with their hands out for now.
Nasty casual ageism not founded on any evidence, just pure hatred of older people for being older.

Wrong. Brexit will cost the country £100 billion a year. It’s the biggest act of economic self harm in the developed world.

a prediction from a think tank using modelling. Look how well modelling helped us during the pandemic.

No because of rampant HPI they are sitting on lots of assets which weren't really earned.

Two thirds of our population are overweight or obese. That is not sustainable. You can’t stop people growing old but you can work to help people become more responsible for their own health when they’re young. This includes better menopause care to limit osteoporosis.

But you can't look at that without acknowledging social economic factors.

@Davina69 see also:

www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/what-have-we-done-brexit-costing-uk-100-billion-a-year-328442/

Now ask yourself, would we have been in a better position had Brexit not happened.

But you can't look at that without acknowledging social economic factors.

Sure. Can you elaborate?

@DamnUserName21 can you explain how France and Germany pay as Im sure i read that Germany pay less in taxes for health care that we pay in tax for NHS and I don't think they pay for Ops and stuff
Im very against paying for drs etc as it could mean someone doesn't go as they cannot afford it that month
The very rich go private anyway as well as fund the nhs

Whilst I love the idea of robots assisting with ADLs for people that need it, I can't see it happening before, say, 2043 which is when 25% of the population is expected to be over 65.
And, yes, migrants need healthcare (aside from short-term needs) and pensions but not for, possibly, 40-50 years after arriving in Britain.

Nasty casual ageism not founded on any evidence, just pure hatred of older people for being older.

I don't understand this logic. The Times article I linked

"Those born in 1952, the year of the Queen’s accession to the throne, have been richer on average at every point of their adult lives than the general population, researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said."

Surely it ageist to young people to gaslight them?

The personal tax allowance is £12,570 a year.

You are saying that fewer than half the people in the country earn that amount.

Oh dear.

You're not including children, are you?

I completely agree they didn’t “earn” it - but if this asset is worth £1m on the open market and that ££ can be spent on social care instead of the state having to pay the £1m then that’s a win for the state’s purse.

We have no fucking trade deals. The one withNew Zealand is actually costing us money. The right of the Tory Party are refusing to do one with India because it entails movement of Labour, most trade deals do. The US won’t do a deal with us until we’ve sorted the Northern Ireland Protocol. How can we be economically successful asa country when no one will trade with us?

Are we to assume you seriously have no idea who has the power to implement tax raises?

Those with private pensions pay tax on them though.

Yep, I'm a midwife and DW works in charity fundraising. We're managing fine at the moment but we were planning to start a family soon and we're having to wait longer than we wanted to due to rising costs.

Sure. Can you elaborate

i'm trying to watch House of Dragons here people!

There's a reason why poorer areas have higher obesity rates, etc etc

The idea of means testing to decide if you pay to use a service we already pay for is a very scary thought! I understand that things can’t go on as they are but rather than taking more from people someone needs to take an honest look at how things are run.
I’m a single parent to 2 dc who works full time and earn £60k, on paper it looks ok, until you deduct childcare, mortgage (cheaper than rent), the fact I’m entitled to nothing, not even child benefit. I genuinely struggle to pay all the bills each month, my ex pays the absolute minimum but obviously means testing just looks at income rather than outgoings.

@Worriedddd its not their fault it wasn't earned is it
Where has everyone been for the last 20/25 years when house prices started going crazy
Many people including a lot on here will of been rubbing their hands as they made £20000 in their house
My mum and dad made a lot on their house due to house prices but then sold and moved out of london as on pensions they couldn't afford to live in london so released some equity
There 3 bed terraced went for £600000 their lies one of the biggest problems
Its a small family house , an old working mans house built for railway workers I believe years ago, why did we all sit back and allow it to happen

This seems a very vague "explanation" of how it's not a ponzi scheme - and it's a legitimate question about things like housing provision, too - that's Schrodinger's in the sense of them apparently not needing any extra housing, transport etc provision.

It is a Ponzi scheme in that current working population are one paying the state pensions - and for NHS services overwhelming used though not exclusively used by older people.

If there aren't enough workers - tax burden gets too high for them to cope and/or services get cut or completely lost.

A less steep slump means that's more gradual processes - rather than upside down pyramid most of western world is looking at.

Housing is a massive problem successive government for decades have ignored or made worse.

Transport - well they need paying customers - and often some government support so yet more money from taxes - so having more working population there is a good thing.

You then need more migrants to fund the previous migrants pensions and healthcare. More housing and more schools. Moving the problem forward for our great grandchildren to solve. Kicking the can down the road is what we are best at.

@Alexandra2001 I’m comparing the UK inflation rate against the rate in the institution that we have left, that departure being the reason some are blaming our current inflation rate on. So of course it’s relevant. It’s interesting that you refer to Portugal and Bulgaria but conveniently ignore Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Austria, all of which have similar or higher inflation rates than the UK. France is the outlier because it doesn’t have the same energy cost pressure that the rest of Europe is facing due to its use of nuclear energy.

@WahineToa it’s not just think tanks saying this, the OBR is as well:

twitter.com/otto_english/status/1544001397628104709?lang=en-GB

Please tell me how the economy has benefited from Brexit. I’m all ears.

Me and DH are in the Lower Middle group and it's been tight for ages for us. Desperately trying to sell our house and it fell through twice!!

We have no debt other than a mortgage, so borrowing more won't bother us too much as it will be short term so when we finally sell and downsize we will be considerably better off!

It's a crap time for most tbh

@healthadvice123
Feel free to Google about health taxes per country. I'm not getting into that. Below is a good article explaining the differences between NHS and French system.

www.connexionfrance.com/article/Practical/Health/A-guide-for-residents-and-second-homeowners-to-the-French-healthcare-system-in-2021

why did we all sit back and allow it to happen

I didn't have any choice but to gulp & pay up. But people feel rich when their house is expensive on paper I think, it encourages spending, equity release is booming.
My MIL the other day said she was very worried about house prices, it doesn't make any sense. Her mortgage was paid off years ago & her house is worth 1.4m 🤷🏻‍♀️