To think many people are barely surviving Life in uk is unsustainable!

[Cupcakeicecream]

To think a normal standard of living is out of reach to the majority of the population. People are barely surviving as is.They have cut back as far as they possibly can and it's still not enough.Next month prices are rising even more. I know most people would say cut your cloth accordingly dont live beyond your means. If you stopped netflix and takeout coffee everything will magically be solved. That's not realistic there is people out there stressed wondering how they will afford the Bill's barely eating sitting in a cold house as they cant afford to heat the house. Yes there will be people on their high horse saying things are not that bad. But the uk has gone to pot. Wages arent high enough. Food prices are too high. This is just a general rant as its constantly on the news. And some people are just oblivious to the fact people in uk can actual be in poverty and really suffering right now even though we arent a third world country. And it seems will only get worse.

There doesn't seem to be much problem with spending in Bristol .I don't know anyone personally who is struggling .

This is Mumsnet haha of course no one is struggling 😊

Always the assumption that those of us who for whatever reason cannot get a mortgage, let alone ever hope to pay one off and own our own home, are somehow not people who work out arses off. To buy a house now is beyond the reach of so many, including divorcees and people on minimum wage... Rents are through the roof and yet still people go around denying poverty is not real. Well it is, but wow I never realised how many privileged people with an attitude problem there are. The gap between rich and poor seems to be growing by the day and still the attitude of "you should work harder then"...wow, just wow.

Maybe it is quite location centric, I am in Berkshire and pubs / restaurants are packed, kids classes are full, shops are busy. New Waitrose just opened and was very busy on opening day! No real signs of a struggle, but it is an affluent area so could be a bubble. I know logically a lot of people will be finding it difficult but I don’t think it’s a majority that are in dire straits.

I wonder what the answers would be on netmums!

This

Food has gone up hugely, but our electric and gas have been fine because of the government subsidy. Petrol seems better.

I agree , we've paid our mortgage off. we also planned very early on so that we would always be comfortable and we are .

I do think it’s hard when most people have to keep up with having a car, phone, good TV, laptop etc. We are social animals and being so far below others is really hard.

But barely surviving?

I don’t know. When I was a kid, we were poor, I had second hand clothes most of my life, never got a new bike, had two holidays my whole childhood, had biscuits for Christmas as our main present, and had very little in the house to eat to be honest, mainly tinned stuff and one chicken per week for four of us (no other meat).

And I wouldn’t say we barely survived.

It hasn't started yet.

If more Banks fail then credit availability will be hugely reduced. We will then see who really is getting by comfortably or just living on the tic but think they are somehow doing well.

It is, people are just being cunty.

No. I think most people are fine.
This heating or eating malarkey is just a fancy catch phrase that apply to very few.

How can it not be obvious/visible?

You are conflating two things. I don’t think anyone suggests that it’s not obvious that some are struggling. But not everyone is struggling.

My mortgage has shot up (to nearly double what it was before) but I’m fortunate enough to have enough of a salary buffer these days to absorb it. Does that mean I think everyone else can just dip into their left-over money each month to pay the bills? Of course not.

@Jadedbuthappy82 where did I say that people who couldn’t get a mortgage didn’t work their arses off?

I was trying to point out that through a combination of working hard as well as making some different life choices than we might have done if we didn’t want to overpay on our mortgage we have now found ourselves in a comfortable position.

I went straight from school to university and into work. I took the minimum student loans that I needed to survive unlike many of my peers. I would have loved to have had a bigger family but we decided not to. I have at times considered leaving my husband but I decided not to. I could have stayed in a cushy but not very well paid job but I decided not to. They were all my choices. My life could now be very different if I’d made different choices and I openly acknowledge that.

At no point did I say that other people don’t also work their arses off and I really don’t think that I have an attitude problem.

Are you new to Mumsnet? The middle class bubble is strong here.

Have you seen the definition of poverty though.
£976 a month for a couple a AFTER housing is paid.
This is plenty to be down the shops.

Call you and yours on r4 today was about pension. The study quoted said you can survive old age (assuming you own your home and don't have a car) on £20k for a couplewhich is what the full state pension will be.

so no, the fact is bad news sells papers, there is an anti government push by the national broadcaster, the unions are pushing to get Labour elected and we have been hit by a worldwide pandemic and a European war.

UK growth over the term of this government (13 years) had actually been excellent

We didn't have holidays, netflix, eat out, etc before the prices went mad. Don't smoke or drink. Buy only modest gifts for close family at xmas and birthdays. Now we have to shop around for going out-of-date food bargains, run our heating at 14/15C and do without replacing clothes. I darn socks and mend everything I can. We're okay, but there's not much left to cut.

@NutellaEllaElla
Compared to where? Where is there a higher standard of living? The UK does better than most

Well, in Europe the stats and figures would probably say Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Austria and Ireland. And probably now also France given the energy crisis which is hitting Britain worse than most.

Britian certainly is a rich country, but the wealth isn’t well distributed - which is why it ranks below all of those above.

I own a cafe and even tho it's clear some are just having a drink instead of food, it's still jam packed . Not saying some are not on the breadline, I know they are and that's awful but I don't think it's the majority. Not where I live anyway but I know that's just a small snippet of the Uk so my judgement isn't necessarily correct

Probably much the same - that the OP is incorrect in saying that "a normal standard of living is out of reach to the majority of the population".

Of course some people have got arsy when others have pointed out that it's not correct, and that many shops, theatres, takeaways, pubs/clubs etc are still bustling and have decided to deliberately read it as 'no-one is struggling'

Have those of you who say you don't know anyone who is struggling considered that some people might be but just not telling you?

I am struggling quite a bit now but I wouldn't dream of boring my friends about it. So I keep up appearances - always "got something else on" to avoid nights out, or only have one (cheapest) course if I do eat out as I'm "watching my weight" or "not hungry". Given up my hobbies as I "don't have the time" or "got bored with it".

They don't know I heat and light just one room to save on bills, shop in the yellow sticker sections for my food and just eat the basics, and am growing my hair colour out because I can't afford to have my roots done now, not to look cool in gorgeous grey (although I hope I do!).

My old car is a good excuse to cover for not driving as I can claim something needs fixed to avoid going somewhere when in reality I can't always afford the petrol.

So just because people still act like they're doing fine, doesn't always mean they are.

This post should go into classics as it’s the most Mumsnet post I’ve ever read!

”I still get my nails done, so there isn’t a cost of living crisis.”

How are people so incapable of understanding that because it’s ok for you (and your friends and family) it’s not horrendous for other people?! And so lacking in empathy that they need to post to tell the OP about their lovely holidays this year, or their mortgage free house, or whatever.

Yea, loads of people are totally fine. And yes, loads of people are struggling. It’s not rocket science. The levels of poverty in the UK should be absolutely unacceptable for a country of this wealth, but this post shows that loads of people don’t give a fuck because they are ok. Which is really sad.

And honestly the comment “there is an anti government push by the national broadcaster” just made me genuinely LOL.

I see both sides of it, was out in Glasgow recently shops rammed then at night same with restaurants and pubs could hardly get into some of them. Difficult to get a table. Yet there’s some areas with desperate poverty teachers feeding and clothing children.

I live in what I supposedly one of the poorest boroughs of the UK. I also work part time in a fast food takeaway. Every day after school parents are in with their kids buying treats, spending a tenner a time, all the drive through, MaccyDs and KFC are ranked every day. The pubs are choc a block and the stench of weed is everywhere. Nobody seems to be starving round here!!