Why won't any political party focus or help the squeezed middle

[Winterday1991]

Off the back of another thread, has got me thinking about the next general election.

Why is there not a party that will focus on the middle earners in the squeezed south east , where both partners work full time, who are struggling juggling mortgages, cost of childcare and self fund everything and are over threshold for any help or subsidies ie child benefit, cost of living payments, free childcare via universal credit?

We are a middle/highish income family and are just so sick of paying into the system and getting nothing back! The amount of tax we pay is insane, certainly not anywhere near value for money. Labour just seem to want to focus on single parent families and those on universal credit.

Any party who focuses on the middle will surely win the election?

There’s a loooooonnnnggg way your income can drop below the child benefit threshold before you are eligible for UC. You don’t sound like the middle to me.

I was completely out of work during covid and newly self-employed so no govt help.
I was not eligible for UC because I lived with a boyfriend, not even husband, who was earning the megabucks sum of £29k. I’m a university educated professional. Got absolutely nothing. My industry is still
decimated and I am earning less than pre-pandemic. Still, I feel fortunate and am grateful I can put food on the table. My taxes pay for roads, schools, hospitals. Have a walk around and look how other people are doing.

Then save it before you go on mat leave when you have full pay ?

By plan, she means did you not say for it when you were working and earning your full salary?

I was a single parent and had to save a grand for a pram, a cot and then another grand for Nursery.

What if you didn’t even have a grand for a pram and a cot ? Was the baby planned? I mean really ?
Mine was a complete accident, and I still managed to pay for a nice pram. Brand-new a nice cot, brand-new put money aside for Nursery and a couple of grand into her bank account.

I probably would’ve waited until I was in a better position if I was you, but that seems out of fashion these days

You are better off than them though. Might be difficult for you to save that amount but more possible than those on UC.

Only if in a new job or significantly improving your hours.

I'll believe that when I see it. I can't see it actually happening.

So you can afford to save a grand but are jealous of people on low incomes? I think the media have done a good job on you and many others.

Because the government constantly promise things and then back out.

I think generally everyone could do with a wealth boost in this country, wages are crazy low compared to the US/Australia and we work very long hours over here too, so I do get middle/higher earners feeling resentful.

However, aiming that resentment at UC claimants is not the way of fixing this. Even if comparably you feel you are working harder for the same amount of disposable income as a single parent family on UC, the fact is your boring grind as a middle class family will pay dividends. UC gets cut dramatically as soon as any kids come of age and as a single parent household it will be night on impossible to get on the housing ladder, especially in the south east. So while it feels shit now, in the future you're not facing a massive cut in income when your kids grow up and if you own a home will probably be sitting on a nice pile of equity. Obviously a much better position to be on!

The anger should be at the government and their shit management of the economy for 13 years. Tried to keep the country running on slashing budgets and cheap credit, at the expense of actual growth. No infrastructure development, only incentivise business to squeeze wages and not invest in new skills/tech, let the economy rest on property prices booming and allowing wages to just fester at what is fast becoming unlivable levels. It's fucking shit.

@Crochetgril23 two points, and then I’m gonna step away from the thread.

There aren’t enough full-time jobs for everybody to work full-time, which is why universal credits and tax credits were invented in the first place. It is far better for the economy to have everybody working a bit and being topped up then it is to have 10% unemployment, which is what we got in the 80s under Thatcher.

Secondly, that’s scenario is gonna get worse as the brick nations build momentum and Immigration continues to increase.

There is less to go around, and there is more choice of labour in the unskilled ranks.

The working poor are going to need more and more support with less people in the middle of the pyramid being able to provide it. The top of the pyramid do not intend to trouble themselves with this issue.

You don't need to say it.

Put that woman's circumstances through turn to us benefit checker and see what she has to live on. You are grossly overestimating benefit levels. The only way that woman is doing so well is that her ex's give decent child maintenance. Housing is the issue. But I said on another thread, ask your parents and GPs what they thought would happen when the jobs and spending was redirected from the north to the south. The bubble had to burst eventually.