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.

I must say from my own observation in the market town we live in is that more people are coping nicely than not. They may well be cutting back, but "barely surviving" would be an exaggeration.

I don't know how anyone could read op's post and, instead of seeing someone in a desperate situation, trip over themselves to tell her how they themselves have cleverly paid their mortgage off, are saving £1000pm and that actually most people are ok. Bully for you. Bravo. I teach and can confirm that many are indeed struggling, many who are doing a great job of pretending they aren't.

If 20% of the population are in poverty - according to the governments own statistics - how many are just above it? A few weeks of unexpected bills away from it? About to be plunged into it when their fixed rate ends?

But no. Your pubs and restaurants are rammed. Your neighbours have a skip outside. Ergo you can ignore all of the financial commentators and jump to the conclusion that it's all hyperbole and most people are doing ok with a bit of cutting back on the luxuries.

And this post shows that loads of people don’t give a fuck because they are ok.

Because they’re allowed to disagree with OP’s assertion that “the majority of the population” is struggling, and evidence why they disagree.

Saying “I disagree with your statement because …” doesn’t mean “And I don’t give about those for whom this is the case”. It’s called a debate.

I agree op. Dp and I both work professional jobs but have had to cut back a lot. So we are no longer spending as much in hairdressers, shops etc. This will affect the economy and the poor will suffer more.

For me it is unsustainable as I'd like to have some joy in my life rather than work myself into the ground for less reward.

I think mn is not representative of the wider population who may experience these issues and if im not mistaken are more concentrated in the Middle class South than the estates of Manchester or Glasgow.

A few points:-
Going out at the weekend doesn’t necessarily mean you have money to spend, you can go out and spend very little
As many pp’s said there are many overseas in far worse situations
Many here are going without food, heating and essentials.
Not mentioned but so many have second and third jobs. Many now talk about working 16 days in a row or 12 hour days.

However, energy prices are not going ip in April, the government said last month. Prices are starting to come back down.

If you have been facing poverty then yes, you will be feeling it is all too much. But as many gave said, not everyone is facing this. Many have just cut back.
Also, last weekend was the first week of spring so naturally everyone went out.

"Because they’re allowed to disagree with OP’s assertion that “the majority of the population” is struggling, and evidence why they disagree.

Saying “I disagree with your statement because …” doesn’t mean “And I don’t give about those for whom this is the case”. It’s called a debate."

To me, op's post sounded desperate. Maybe AIBU is not the place for it. It is not a dissertation in which the objective is to refute her assertion. It is ok to show empathy and imagination. Do you think she feels better or worse that posters are telling her that they've paid their mortgage off or can save £1000pm?

I'd be interested in a debate about poverty in the UK and whether we're getting poorer, but 'everyone I know is ok' isn't really a debate.

To everyone saying they can’t get a nail appointment or a tradespersons to the house. That’s not just because the economy is up shit creek under the Tories because of years of underinvestment in training and productivity not just because because small businesses have gone under on the pandemic, it’s also because under the Tories, the Brexit referendum happened to try to calm a massive spilt of views in the Conservative Party (but not because it was any good for us as a country economically ) and now we have Brexited and have a shrunken UK economy.
Small businesses are struggling to afford materials and premises and so naturally there will be fewer staff employed there, fewer businesses surviving to trade at all and so, yes there will be fewer appointments available for all these things.

Amazed at all these people who think it's sustainable! The only plus for me is that it's more sustainable for the environment as we are not flying this year or buying clothes etc.

I agree with you OP and this thread is full of I'm alright jack types.

My social circle is middle class and most seem to be doing fine, with some cut backs. I am feeling the pinch, everything is shooting up and I have less of a buffer/ resilient ( e.g. car needing repairs/ boiler broken) in my savings.

I work with people in all different social classes and many were struggling before. I'm hearing some households with 2 ft working adults really struggling. I heard a local nursery charging £70 a day for childcare - that's insane!

I've worked in a very poor country in Africa which is a different kind of poverty of course,. Interesting talking to a man who had returned to Africa(a health care professional) from the UK, he said although you earn much more in the UK, the cost of living is so high it was equivalent for his standard of living in Africa.

This is not a race to the bottom- this country is a mess!!

I'm sorry to hear that's your situation OP. And I agree that there is a cost of living 'crisis', everything has gone up significantly in price.

I don't think food is 'too' expensive though, I think for a very long time it's been far far too cheap - ie the big supermarkets put so much pressure on prices that farmers are not paid a sustainable amount for produce - eg milk is loss making etc. which is just a bonkers scenario. Farmers need subsidies just to survive because supermarkets pay such a pittance for the produce, and the whole model is geared towards intensive farming mass producing low quality produce and intensive farming of animals - not very ethical, not good quality, doesn't pay enough to farmers.

I don't mean to sound glib in terms of for someone on the breadline choosing between eating or eating, but as a proportion of people's overall expenditure food has been pretty low, it's just everything else which has become too high, with eg housing being the biggest cost and the one which has so vastly outstripped what is affordable, and of course now energy bills having jumped such an exorbitant amount, childcare being such an enormous expense for people with pre school children etc.

I live in one of uks most deprived areas . I would describe myself as 'getting by' if we go farm, soft play, pub, theatre etc they are always busy.

This. I was just writing about how food in the UK has been cheap (possibly too cheap) for years.

I live in Italy and we can only dream of the prices in UK supermarkets. Both before, and after Brexit. For things like pasta. Go figure. We've taken photos of food in UK supermarkets to show people here. Same product, same brand. In the UK fridge- 99p. In my fridge in Puglia €3.45. (the brand is Italian)

Wages are lower here, bills are higher. Rents about the same . The energy/petrol bills everyone talks about in the UK have been normal for us for years.

It isn't a race to the bottom, no. But when in the UK you can buy a t shirt for £2 and a huge bag of pasta (on another thread) for 40p and tins of tomatoes for 19p, it's going to be a very tiny violin.

Unemployment is going to rocket. In retail and service. No shit. Ask the people digging their heels in about not going back to the office why that might be. The High Street is dead, and it's not because of Amazon.

I don't know anyone that's only just surviving.

A lot of people will be coming off fixed rate mortgages this year and seeing significant increases in monthly repayments.

The news today says the number of properties to rent is down by one third (in the last 18 months). So everyone who hates landlords and thinks they're the reason for house price inflation must be happy. But I think it will just make it much harder and more expensive to find a home.

Also that employment is not yet at pre covid levels so lots of infilled vacancies putting pressure on businesses.

But fuel and energy is coming down, and inflation forecast to drop significantly by the end of the year.

I largely agree with this. Our food has been artificially low for too long. The food producers (think small fisherman) gets a tiny amount compared to the low price paid in the supermarket.

The middle men also say their margins are tight. The supermarket won't charge a reasonable price to customers as they presume we will reject it for an unhealthy cheap alternative. And they are correct.

Consumer power has suppressed prices for too long.

I'm with others on this thread. Most people I know who struggle (think very elderly) are surprised by the amount government has given this winter. Most are in credit with their energy bill for the first time.

They eat frugally anyway and always have done.

We have become a land of plenty and excess. We are actually experiencing a resetting of what is normal

Some local restaurants near me are fully booked because they are operating at 75% capacity or less because they cannot get staff and don't want to be slated for rubbish service. When a cafe is charging £17 for a cooked breakfast and ordinary food is leaping up in price so much weekly that even cheaper own brands raise an eyebrow and are no longer affordable you must be crazy not to be alarmed by it all.

Those may be the only countries in the rest of the world yes.

Well I personally would like to keep food prices low but I don't like all this bonkers shipping stawberries from Africa or where ever.

I struggle to find pasta for 40p nowadays...even in lidl basics.

Yet again just because you don’t personally know any it can’t possibly be happening eh? 🙄 Well I do know two single parent nurses both having to use a food bank.

I'm not trying to minimise what your saying as I'm sure dependant where you live bills are different but we are in exactly same situation single mum, 2 kids, work part time (minimum wage) due to disability and claim pip and universal credit. But I certainly wouldn't describe my situation as barely surving. I mean we wouldn't be able to nip of to Disney world for a fortnight but where not sitting in a cold house , there's always food in the cupboard and even spare for a takeaway once a week. We have sky, netflix, Disney plus. I actually find it very difficult to belive anyone in this country is barely surving with our benefits system. Il belive it when mcdonalds go bust.

Teaco sell pasta for 41p and spaghetti for 28p

(If anyone needed to know!)

I watched a very interesting program, it seems the standard of living for humans has peaked and now on the decline , mostly linked to energy and it's future.

I have to say I think they are correct.

Life going forward will never be as good as it has been in the past.

Considering a starting wage for a newly qualified nurse is around 25k a year id say say they are misusing foodbanks and should be ashamed of themselves. My income is less then half of that and iv never used a foodbank. I even use to donate to foodbanks until it started being put in the media that people on more then double what I earn use them.