To think if you've always lived in an affluent place you have no real idea about inequality in the UK?

[Pipsquiggle]

To give a bit of context, I grew up in one of the poorest boroughs in the country and now live in one of the richest.

Had a chat with a colleague today, saying I had randomly bumped into Wes Streeting yesterday and had a chat with him and wished him well. She said I could never vote for Labour, they are terrible with money.

I then said well at least they closed the inequality gap which had been completely undone and made worse by the Tories.
She asked what did I mean so I outlined the following:
Underfunding of councils in poor area which were already under the kosh
Underfunding of schools and SEN
Lack of transport infrastructure so if you don't have a car in many towns you are fucked, which in turn can lead to wage suppression
Closure of Sure start centres
Only being able to afford UP foods and the knock effects on the NHS and behaviour at schools............

I made a few more points and she admitted she just said she had no idea. I told her that if I had lived where I had live now all my life that I probably would be a Tory too but I can't ignore the poverty in my home town.

So AIBU to think that if you have only lived in an affluent area, you don't really understand how bad it is in the wider country?

This was not the point that I was commenting on - rather the fact that students would not apply as it is a liberal area and they were considered too corporate. Utterly ridiculous!

Are you implying that people can only understand each other's lives if they see them on the tv? Apologies if this is not what you meant!

I’ve always lived in naice areas but my job has taken me into several extremely deprived places. My caseloads have included a massive council estate, where poverty was the norm and an inner city where knife and gun crime were rife. A colleague had a gun put to her head when she got out of her car. A gang pointed a gun at me and attempted to take my car keys. I’ve worked with drug addicted parents, victims of domestic violence, paedophiles, alcoholic parents and child abuse. I hope that helps.

My husband grew up on a very rough council state and went to one of the worst schools in the country. He’s very firmly of the view that most the people he went to school with were lazy benefits scroungers who couldn’t be bothered to make an effort. I’m the one, with my affluent Surrey upbringing, who is more likely to suggest it could be really bad for some people. He’s the one who grew up in those circumstances though and says there’s no excuse

Around 15 yrs ago, I survived on less than minimum wage at that time for around 4 yrs. Not only I survived, but I also saved up! So yes it is possible to live within your means and forgive those who can't get their head around it. I can't! There is a lot of entitled attitude amongst those who don't save up/better their lifestyle and always expect others to come to their rescue. Others don't owe you anything.

I don’t think your examples are comparable.

The person in the more affluent area is incredibly wealthy compared to the poor person. They’re just choosing to spend all their cash on a certain lifestyle. And there’s nothing at all wrong with that; they’ve earned it, they should be able to spend it however they like. But they have a choice that the poor person doesn’t have.

@Velicirapitor yes. I work in the NHS and most of our patients are from the most deprived areas of the borough. At one point 3/4 of them had end stage liver disease because of alcohol abuse, sepsis due to being IVDU. Then issues because of poor diet, smoking, general poverty on top of that. Most of my colleagues have experienced violence or verbal abuse at first hand, had to refer children to safeguarding, urgent referrals to duty SW.
One friend on a different ward was attacked by a patient with an oxygen cylinder and had to lock herself in the staff room. Not saying these people aren’t responsible for their actions but many have serious untreated MH issues.

I think it’s often that they don’t see other kids doing better. If they’re from a deprived northern town for example, it’s often their ONLY frame of reference. Schools often won’t encourage uni, or even mention it as a possibility to this demographic of young people. All they’re focused on is scraping them through their maths and English GCSE, tick a box and send them on their way.

Their parents won’t know any different, so won’t encourage them to aspire to greater things. Of course they’ll see ‘others’ with a better life on TV or SM, but they’ve been given the implicit message their whole lives that those people are different and they will never be like them.

And if someone who grew up in deprivation does end up going to uni, then someone somewhere along the line has encouraged them, or given them permission to even countenance that they have a choice. And that in itself is a form of privilege that isn’t extended to all children.

I think some of the views expressed on here explain why the Tories are so successful. It’s where the pulling yourself up by the bootstrap originates.
There’s an empathy gap. And sadly it’s the ones who’ve done well and could act as mentors to others who just see themselves as superior, cleverer, better work ethic. They look down on those from the same background, despise them. Attribute their own good fortune purely to their natural abilities and hard work.

I went to careers fairs and I felt completely out of my depth, I didn't have the confidence or ability to talk to any of the people there , I felt out of place and out of my depth

SEN isn’t underfunded, £10 billion spent last year

In London some of the boroughs like Kensington and Chelsea have the richest and the poorest people and no middle earners

According to Country Life our town is in the top ten of the best places to live in England and Wales. My DCs attend a very local school, pupils live no further than two and a half miles away and 17% of pupils are eligible for free school meals.
Just because you live in an affluent area it doesn't mean everyone there is rich. I imagine that the contrast between rich and poor feels very stark for those who are struggling.

On the other hand, many previously safe Labour seats swung Conservative in the general election called by Johnson.

I wonder if Reform will be the big winner in July?

@ActivePeony well if people don't live it or see it first hand, and minus novels and dramas on the subject, surely any ideas they have will be from more of a theoretical bent than a reality one?

@mathanxiety not because of any great liking for Tory policies but Brexit. There was a big influx of immigrants from all over, Roma gypsies, Syrians and Iraqis, Somalian’s etc around 2011-15. That and visible effects of austerity led to a pro Brexit vote.
I live in a formerly safe northern labour seat. The town’s a shithole. Sad decline over 10 years. Cameron and Osbourne were hated but so was our sadly very poor but also cash strapped labour council.

I see this very frequently and always struggle to understand - why being poor is bad luck and not own fault but being successful is just fortunate?

There is a number of posts here from people who grew up in poverty and managed to achieve something thanks to their hard work and they say that many people who had the same start in life just stayed where they are.

What else is this if not grit and hard work and own skills and abilities?

I see it on a daily basis - several grads join the same workplace in the same roles. One or two burst their guts, work hard and in a couple of years make great progress. The rest just coast, don't make any effort and either fail probation or stuck at the lowest level and are the first in the queue for redundancy. All had the same workplace opportunity but end up in a very different positions. Those laze ones usually hate hard working ones.

I think if there was a bit less false empathy and more stigma about laziness the society would be fitter and there would be more emotional and financial resources to support those who really truly need it.

Haven't read the whole thread but the Thread Title completely resonates with me. Coming from a mixed/pateurized socio-economic background brought up and influenced generally in a positive way by the older members with some traversing of countries due to DF's job which added some flavour.

But nothing opened my eyes more than my early adulting years c1980 in Sunderland, England, UK. Nothing. No degrees in Social Policy, no books, no advice; nothing else, then and since, opened my eyes more to the real and actual inequalities that exist in the UK.

Before 1980 my only experience of England was the SE and besides familial and necessary forays back to reside there I've rejected it since - the residents are way too smug.

My opinions are still the same - no one that lives in the SE should even have the audacity to think anyone living in the other, many less priviliged parts of England and the wider UK are lesser because of it.

@nearlylovemyusername There is a number of posts here from people who grew up in poverty and managed to achieve something thanks to their hard work and they say that many people who had the same start in life just stayed where they are.

Define “same start in life”? They all had identical lives? Really?

As a person who started near the bottom and did quite well I can see how my starting point held me back ; I can see how my parents contributed to my success ... so many factors

Grew up in the same deprived area? attended the same school, class? Families of similar income?

There is a saying "those who want seek the way, those who don't look for excuses"

@nearlylovemyusername - what about more industry and the decent jobs that go with it being spread a bit more geographically fairly?

So that it isn't mostly necessary for people to move away from their family/neighbourhood/community networks to become one of the few 'that done good'?

And a more even spread of economy/job generating areas would decrease the need for such things as childcare, adult social care, etc and the need for purchasing assistance with these things via govt subsidy on an economic level and help put the brakes on the very long known 'community fragmentation' that has gone on for so long - the smug expect the "govt" to be able to deal with it.

And then there's the Housing Crisis.....but I've expressed enough....

No one truly understand others’ struggle, unless they had been in the same situation themselves before.

What if one has supportive parents and the other is a child abuse victim? One has a parent in prison and the other’s parents are pillars of the community? Domestic violence? Addiction in the home? No two children from different families can have identical experiences. And it’s exactly these adverse childhood events that hold children back, not just low family incomes. ACEs are where the real damage is done.

I do see what you're saying but I think it's important to remember it's not as black and white as affluent area / poor area. Many areas have both extremes in one place so it would be entirely possible for the rich to see run down parts of town / poverty as it's right on their doorstep.

I used to live in Fulham and the rich / poor side by side there is quite shocking.

Now live near Dover and there is a big private school and it's a 5 minute walk away from the not so nice bit of Dover.