To think the uk is on its knees

[Ilovemycatalot]

Just this. Every day negativity. No one is happy with life or working conditions. The country is at an all time low. Living standards getting worse by the day people getting poorer. I know we are not in poverty like some countries but honestly can’t see us ever returning to decent living standards unless you’re the few top percent earners. Tell me I’m being dramatic perhaps I am but can’t see much of a way back from this .

No, it’s not. I’m in Sweden. No problems getting a GP appointment for the day after.
No strikes that I know of.

Where I live, every restaurant and café is booked out The neighbourhood is filled with skips and builders vans, as remodelling and extensions are built. Hen nights are very much in evidence and you have to book well ahead to get a hairdresser, beauty therapist, masseuse or personal trainer A lot of people have significant disposable income. No evidence of belt tightening at all.

@Maireas The well off are not affected. The rich are getting richer.

CuteOrangeElephant
Germany are going through the same demographic struggles and is taking positive action and investing in its future

I think the point is why are they not recruiting from the ready supply of EU healthcare workers - the ones not coming to the UK?

What a ridiculous thing to say. So leave?

Why are you on MN, a British website/talk forum conversing with mainly British people if you hate everybody so much?

Honestly, I don't get it. If your life is that shit, then move elsewhere where it's not shit.

But I guess you're just shit stirring anyway. Good for you.

I'm already objectively not better off than my parents. I live in a smaller house (in the same village so the difference is not because of regional house price variations); they paid their mortgage off when my mum was 60 and mine won't be paid off until I'm 67 - we had to spend time renting which made it hard to save for a deposit so were comparatively late onto the property ladder; they retired earlier than I'll be able to and have substantially better pensions than I do.

I think the next 20 years is going to stay the same, if the current children dont have family money to fall back on its gonna be hard for them to have much hope at a nice independant future.

I don’t get it either. I wonder too if Labour get in they’ll suddenly think it’s the best place and people are nice.

Yes it's just all very doom & gloom. I can't see things improving much unfortunately

Never seen a food bank in Sweden, maybe they do excist somewhere? It should be the government’s responsibility to make sure people have a decent living standard.

Will receive about £800 in a couple of weeks time to help out with the electricity bill, like all households. Things aren’t perfect, but not complaining.

It is the same all over Europe, strikes everywhere, healthcare failing etc.

healthcare failing?

@Forfrigz I am not sure where you are getting your American examples.

There are certainly poor states, and poor areas of wealthy states, where nurses and teachers are underpaid. But it is nowhere near as bad as the UK. If it is ever was, it was decades ago, before I lived there.

My sister now lives in a prosperous town and makes nearly USD 120K as a Department Head in a public (UK state) high school. She has nearly three months off in the summer, although there is not much time off during the academic year. The average nurse salary nationwide is in the range USD 75-80K. I have just looked up nurse salaries at the university hospital associated to my health care plan when I lived in America. The average is over USD 100K with several specialisms substantially higher

America has plenty of problems and I have no skin in the game (as Americans say). But the country is more meritocratic than the UK, and less obsessed with ridiculous class demarcations. Of course there is still a way to go

It's not great at the moment, but in comparison to other countries, it's amazing! If you think of countries like Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti etc etc then you see just how much we have and how lucky we are.

Can we not hope for me?

more?

I feel like this too sometimes, but I remind myself that people probably thought there was no way things would get better in the 70s, with the 3 day week. Not sure that long term any of thatcher's "answers" weren't a hell of a lot worse, but that's partly because subsequent politicians came up with no new answers. The worst thing will actually be if the anti business sentiment continues.

Things go in cycles, everywhere Look at history - the last one was 2008, not as bad, but a real downturn. It was short lived... this too will pass.

I would argue we never actually recovered from 08.

It’s not though for the millions and millions in the public sector and private industries where pay has been stagnant. They are worse off. It’s a fact.

It just seems as if people have much more of a disposable income nowadays, from hen nights to nail bars to eating out.
All much more commonplace than even 20 years ago.

In that case I would question whether that doctor had ever been in a patient in a UK hospital. The French do moan about their health service - they literally don't know they are born.

Perhaps the UK needs to take this into account and limit immigration, usimg a points system and do something about the lack of facilities and services.

Demographics across most of Europe are against any heath care system - I think all countries are aging though at different rates and all systems have flaws - but I don't think they are having the crisis NHS currently is.

that's my understanding

I don't think it's a compliment for someone to say "I'd actually rather be in a UK hospital right now".... 😂

Turn off the news and do one nice thing every day.

That's what I'm trying to do.

The French do moan about their health service - they literally don't know they are born

I'm pretty sure the French do literally know they have been born.

Because there's not as much supply as there used to be. Most European countries have an ageing population, not enough workers. More workers are staying in Eastern Europe because their economies are growing. There was still a sizeable number of healthcare professionals that wanted to come to the UK. When you all of a sudden cut that supply without any contingency plans, despite having 5 years to plan for it...

Germany is doing what the UK should have done, invest in its future.