To ask when is the cost of living going to go down?

[scotpancakes]

When will working hard start to pay off? I scrape by every month. I can't afford to save, so I can't afford a house! I live in the South East and rent prices are crazy. Will this country ever become more affordable? For the past 16 years it's been doom and gloom and it just goes on and on!

Which will be eaten up by the increased higher costs of goods and services.

I think the narrative in politics generally is 'jam tomorrow' .

Nope, this is under a Labour government. The price of everything is going up not down. The taxes will rise as will everything else. We are going to be in more debt as a country going forward, with very little to show for it.

The OP definitely refers to the period of the last 16 years.
The cost of living crisis started in 2021 under the Conservatives.

Oh you are taking about the pandemic debt.

I am talking about the debt Labour are creating right now that means we will never see prices OR taxes coming down, op should prepare for worse to come.

No. Not pandemic debt.

The people who need it most will benefit the most from earning more.

The same arguments were all rolled out for the effect of the NMW when it was introduced, and in reality, companies managed it.

@pleasehelpwi3 yes by cutting jobs

I don't think that it's a cost of living crisis so much as a resetting, back to where we were before the economic boom of the 80s and 90s.

The problem is that during the boom, we became accustomed to all the associated luxuries (meals out, new clothes, foreign holidays) that wouldn't have been the norm prior that period. People also don't want to accept that the current welfare state (including expectations of what the NHS should cover) is no longer affordable. The boom time is over and I don't see it coming back anytime soon.

OP I think realistically a second job may be the best option. I know you work FT but lots of retailers want good workers either for Christmas or long term. I've done one or two shifts a week at a supermarket alongside my dayjob. Would that be an option?

Another perk is after probation (or 3 months) you get staff discount on groceries 😊

^ this

Companies managed it by putting prices up, they didn’t and couldn’t absorb the cost.

The NLW has increased more than inflation though…. it was £7.20 in 2016 but will be £12.21 next year!

Did you not notice the 2008 crash which most leading Economists agreed would cause a decade of stagnation as the UK wasn't prepared for it.

Absolutely. Labour had over spent for the entire decade before, and left us ill prepared for the financial crisis that followed in 2008. To be fair to them they accepted responsibility at the time.

It took ten years plus for the conservatives to repair the damage.

People have short memories.

Lol! Repair the Damage??? wtf?? where? what have you "Repaired...." SFA.

You Tories! never ever can accept that your policies made the UKs position far worse, no other country, in Europe, had 14 years of Austerity, they had 3 or 4 years.

UK debt in 2010 was 65% of GDP, 2 years after the GFC in 2020 pre pandemic, it was 81%, yet public services were through the floor and nhs waiting lists at 4m....... but its always someone else to blame..... isn't there???

No responsibility!!!

Your austerity policies have caused huge public debt as the things you should have fixed as they needed to be, weren't done, now the damage is worse and will cost far more to fix.

Pretty much all politicians & economists say Austerity went on far to long.... even Osbourne admits this now.

You were kicked out in July because the public had given you 14 years and all you did was fuck everything up.

Wouldn't house prices be even higher if there had been wage growth as well over the last 20 years?

You Tories!! 😂😂 I just can’t take your post seriously.

It won't go down. Businesses such as retailers, manufacturers, suppliers etc are not going to reduce their costs/prices just to suit the consumer.
With the rise in NMW and employer NI contributions the COL will most likely increase.

Your ability to only take seriously the things that reinforce your views is apparent.

I lived through it, but that's not relevant to the full period of sixteen years leading up to today. Why, after 14 years of Tory rule are we doing worse than the other G7 nations?

And Labour's Ed Miliband in his election campaign was also very clear that he, too, would be adopting austerity to try to deal with the huge deficit and ever increasing debt!

No you never do, always someone else's fault.

Labour never wanted 14 years of it, should have stopped by 2012 ish and as Labour were reducing debt and at one point ran a surplus, its a lie to say we weren't prepared.

We came out of 2008 in a relatively strong position, debt still running at 65% of GDP.... oh what would we do for that now....

You off all people, should know that postponing day to day spend, just builds up more and more long term issues, ones that are very expensive to put right.

We never "postponed" spending. Public spending has risen year on year. The problem has been that a lot of it has been wasted, i.e. PFI deals on schools and hospitals, monumental waste in the NHS.

Also, a complete collapse of the tax system following the merging of the separate depts which previously dealt (very well) with VAT, NIC, PAYE and income tax. Merging them was a disaster - none of the promised "benefits" ever happened - all those experienced tax inspectors who took early retirement when the main offices and local offices were closed and they were expected to move hundreds of miles away to a tiny number of huge call centres. The tax "gap" has increased every year since, along with complete "wild west" in terms of money laundering, tax evasion, illegal employment, and of course people and organisations simply not paying tax due by making themselves bankrupt and then starting again with a new limited company and doing the same again.

The whole thing has been a shambles for 2 or 3 decades. I agree with Farage when he said two cheeks of the same arse.