To , just once ,ask is anyone else fed up of being the squeezed middle?

[Wildandallthatjazz]

Thats it really. !

Yes , on mn , its seen as a privilege to have a mortgage, a job etc .

But sometimes it feels hard and you just wish that you got a break . Recognition of the hard slog maybe .

I am not begrudging those on benefits who got the extra payment support, its more about just wanting to have a treat / a bonus/ etc .. a spare bit of money.. a boost .. the heating on … or maybe recognition that the middle can struggle too ?

I totally accept that people can struggle and need help , sort of also feel the struggling middle are invisible ? ( and not seen to have the’ right ‘to have a little moan as it does you good sometimes )

I do think we are incredibly lucky to live in a county with a welfare state, nhs, free gp care I really do .
But sometimes, it just would be nice not to feel you are paying taxes , working as much as possible, and to be able not to feel squeezed all the time and the need to just have a grump about it .

sometimes it is good to let of steam .. when you cant IRL

and then you move on in a more positive fashion .

And I above average wage, work full time yet there is no joy in anything. My wages allow for no fun stuff and no emergencies. I may even need to sorn my car next month!

Red flag for?

That I'm at my wit's end? That I'm really struggling and think it would be easier to sink than keep swimming at this point?

Sst1234. Not all of us sadly I was onsite every day. I never did baking or pe with my kids. They went to key worker school and weekdays were as normal. I'm now paying back a debt I took nothing from if that's your logic and I still have nothing for a treat each month

It’s a red flag that wages aren’t high enough fundamentally but also that benefits are a (sort of) viable alternative and some people will chose to opt out of work because if it. That’s a v alarming dynamic and one that’s already unsustainable.

A single UC claimant gets £334 per month.

I highly doubt you have less than that.

I dont know about hunger but over 60,000 due to hyperthermia and this will undoubtedly be worse this winter.

It will increase, in this crisis, without help. People call through the nets and end up living on less than £400 a month. Back stories of repossession, houses in partner’s name, redundancy, cancer, bipolar…..It can happen to almost anyone, with enough bad luck and the odd bad decision.

This doesn’t add up. For that to even make sense you’d have to be a not particularly high earning tenant.

If I did that, my house would be repossessed fairly quickly.

I thought OP was about the pincer grip (some) high earners with big mortgages and a lot of tax to pay felt themselves to be in?

Whatever. For everyone, I think, honestly the only way is through. It’s tough times. Everyone is feeling the squeeze. Personally I’m glad just to be mildly shitting myself and not properly poor.

It gets us nowhere, this financial top trumps of who has it worst.

I cannot believe how many people think that living on UC is so wonderful.

I have never felt so utterly hopeless and cannot see a way forward any more.

@Willyoujustbequiet A single person, no dependents on UC will really struggle. £334 a month was little enough before the recent COL increases. On the other hand, a single, healthy adult is not limited by lack, or cost, of childcare, in finding work.

Guy who volunteers (occasionally) alongside me in a charity shop, mid forties, no reason he can’t work in one of the local factories who are always advertising, but he doesn’t want shift work. He has a council flat, so he’s not going to be hit by expensive rent, even minimum wage would give him a fair bit more disposable income, but he makes no effort. I don’t know how he isn’t sanctioned.

Did you read my follow up posts?

im probably in the squeezed middle. I also spent several years as a single parent and got some tax credits which I was very grateful for. Being fortunate enough to have two incomes makes me much better off than reciting tax credits and even the current government assistance!

i think one of the luxury’s of being in the squeezed middle is having the room to make changes. I’ve been able to downgrade products for my supermarket shop, I eat out less etc.

im lucky enough I can still afford my extra curricular but we don’t very often do paid leisure activities.

You do realise that many people in poverty also work? Doing NMW jobs that need doing? Working 50+ hrs a week just to survive? They're not sat at home watching daytime TV being feckless parents as the media would have you believe.
This shit show of a Govt have ruined this country for all but the really wealthy.

Do you ever read some of the posts on here and just get depressed that you have to orbit in the same society as some people??

Some truly grim posters on this thread.

I think the op wanted to give the chance to a group that feels they have struggles but are unheard . For eg the mother that works full time , doesnt get to see her child much , but still cant afford basic things like heat .
it is recognition for that group .. simply .. rather than a comparison to anyone else such as those who have other lifestyles.

JAM

Just About Managing

That's what the squeeze middle is. If you're in the middle and managing just fine, you are not part of the squeezed middle.

I am sorry, I honestly wish that I wasn't still a burden on society.

Apologies

Who?

Well, JAM doesn't mean you're in the middle, but otherwise I agree. I wouldn't have said people who, like me, are in the middle and are choosing which of various treats to cut back on, would qualify as squeezed. I guess we're all being squeezed more than we were, but it seems like it would imply at least some struggle.

There will be a lot of people dying of cold this winter if we have a bad one.

@Seymour5 next time this chaps in you could pointing to him the Amazon didn’t even particularly want you to work a shift need to be more than happy if you could just specify that you could work between 930 and 230 for example five months of the year while you go train spotting birdwatching island hopping for the rest of it to say they’re flexible is a bloody understatement they literally could do no more.

for now.
they are currently installing an automated system that will make the likes of him completely surplus to requirement, he doesn’t realise it but this is his golden opportunity and if he misses it it’s gonna get worse.

How on earth do you justify that claim ? I’ve had two of these payments so far. I usually pay £60 a month in gas and electric. So with this grant so far I’ve paid my usual £60 plus the grant so £120 and I’m in Credit at the moment. I will probably spend the amount that I’m in credit by about £30 a month so that’s £60 in total so far in January and February which are the coldest months but I most definitely not worse off in terms of fuel bills.

It is a paltry amount to live off if you have no dependents and can't work. Some people on this thread seem to have no understanding that anybody can fall on hard times, lose a job, a business fails etc. I have clients who are paying £725 a month on rent and receive £400 a month through Universal credit so they have to make up the difference form the £340 a month that is left to live off. It's easy for people to say "well move house", but this is hard when you've been a victim of domestic violence, have severe ptsd and depression and even gettign out of bed is difficult. Not that there are any smaller properties to rent and no-one wants to rent to you as you are on benefits and have debts coming out of your ears. I'm not saying Uc should pay the higher rent but you can surely see how people end up using a foodbank when they are left with £50 a month for food and bills ? Some people on this thread clearly have no understanding of the problems some people face. Most addictions are the result of childhood neglect and abuse and it's a downwards spiral that's hard to get out of.

Some people really need these payments but people like my dad - he is on a fixed rate until next year and has been given £1000 in extra winter fuel payments and cost of living payments. He openly admits he will not use this and will donate.

Apologies if you already know this but the fixed rate is the unit price not the monthly amount though.