What do you think the U.K. will be like in 15-20 years?

[GoodnightAdeline]

Pondering this on the train this morning.

My personal view is Labour will win the election this year, and will be able to keep the country treading water for a little while, but we will continue to get poorer as a nation and the decline will continue. I think there will be an exodus of skilled and younger people and we will slide into second world country status, leaving a tiny workforce struggling to support an enormous number of dependants. Perhaps it will right itself eventually, but not before 2060 or so.

Am I being too pessimistic?

Population approaching 75 million, more pollution, housing shortages , lower standard of living for many

I hope we will be back in the EU.

I agree it's interesting to speculate. But it depends, I think, more on world politics than home politics. I think within 10 years America will no longer be a super power, other nations will rise to prominance with the Asian continent becoming more powerful. Reliance on fossil fuels will reduce but water will become the next battlefield. And the impacts of climate change will become more and more significant.

Me too.

I suspect standard of living will continue to fall, but it won’t be unique to the UK. I doubt we will ever get back to the dizzying heights of the New Labour years.

2060 ?
Aren't we meant to have flying cars and a colony on the moon by then? Micro chips in our shoulders from birth and we all dress the same in tunics and leggings.
If that's not true then sci fi has lied to me 😂

I think about this often. I suspect we’ll continue to decline and things will get even worse. I hate living here most of the time.

When the children of now are ruling things , this country will be an absolute shit show.

Most Western countries are now in a state of managed decline. It's inevitable and there's little we can do. Living standards etc will continue to fall over the coming decades. We've all been living on debt for too long to maintain the illusion of being successful and prosperous countries. But the future is in the East, not the West as that's where there are the developing economies. We've had a few decades of incompetent politicians (not just UK but also in European countries and America), who've not prepared our countries for the seismic shift in fortunes and power from West to East. We've ignored the balance of trade deficits for decades and papered over the cracks by relying on the so-called service industry which simply is no substitute. Our so called leaders have led us up the garden path of believing we don't need to make anything anymore, don't need to do "proper" work, can retire early, can do 4 day weeks, etc - all on the backs of "someone else" actually doing the real work, i.e. cheap Chinese workers, but those days are rapidly coming to a close, and soon, we won't have enough people actually working to pay for all those who aren't!

My children are pretty epic and would do a much better job than the current shower.

More open borders, more immigration.

Multi generational house sharing will be the norm. Most will be poorer.

AI will have made many job redundant.

Weather will be milder and wetter.

I think there will be a further widening of the wealth gap regardless of who is in power. I also think that as usual if you can afford to live in a nice area it will not be so obvious.

I also think that there will be a massive move to the right across Europe due to the mess that is immigration.

Bigearringsbigsmile · Today 11:39
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When the children of now are ruling things , this country will be an absolute shit show”

Speak for your own. Ours are wonderful young people.

It’s an absolute shit show right now thanks to 2016’s adults.

A blasted heath

It will be grim, but I hope to be dead.

Someone will invent a way of transmitting electrical power wirelessly, so plugs will become obsolete and it will be life-changing.

Prince George's first born child will be a girl named Elizabeth.

We'll rejoin the EU in 2039 and start to have nice things again.

All coin denominations below £1 will be abolished.

I think income and wealth inequality is also going to one of the larger factors in decline of living standards in the west. The average CEO is getting paid 1460% higher than in the 60s, and today is getting paid approximately on a ratio of 300 to 1 CEO vs average worker. In the 60s the ratio was more like 20 to 1. Trickle down economics is a myth. This widening gap is untenable.

Yeah cause todays adults are doing such a great job it can only go downhill from here eh?

Like modern victorian times.

So workhouses but with electricity and insulation.

@RandomMess I agree. I was talking to dh about this the other day. We have 4 kids. I don't know or think if it would work or if the kids would agree or want to when they are older.... but! We could just save as much as we can now. When the kids are older and working, (we have 4) we could all pool in together and buy a biggish house. That could potentially be 6 incomes. Not sure if that is even doable/or a good idea. But I think we will get to a point in society where we might have to think this sort of way!

@Spendonsend my friend who works for DWP predicted that about 10 years ago.

I think the poorest working aren't much above that already tbh.

Well my dc are resilient, hardworking individuals as are their peers.

I can’t say the same for the last few PM’s from supposedly the most elite schools in UK.

I’ve recently emigrated and become an economic migrant as I cannot stay in the UK and I can see the rot and decline continuing.

I reckon we'll be back in the EU by that point, but on significantly worse terms than before. No more special deal for us.