Where is the money going to come from to meet the UK people expectations?

[Pandersmum]

So assuming that:

• everyone who receives disability benefits needs them and may actually believe they should be entitled to more
• pensioner benefits are non negotiable and again many believe they should be greater than current
• working people (most) believe they are already taxed highly and believe they cannot be taxed any more without further impact to their feeling of unfairness and resentment of the system
• it is unreasonable to expect young people with ADHD or other similar ND disorders / mental health challenges to work, even if they have qualifications and therefore they must be financially supported by the state
• Mental health challenges are very real in any age of person and therefore they must be financially supported by the state and if in work, by their employers
• rent (whatever level) should be supported by the state because it is a basic right to have a home
• NHS treatment (& the best treatment) should be free be all, no matter how expensive it is or whatever their age because people pay their taxes
• businesses are businesses and are there to make profits for their owners - therefore they can choose which country they operate in / pay their taxes in - if they don’t like the UK tax system, they can move somewhere else
• ’in work benefits’ are necessary to support ‘low paid workers, often in essential jobs’ to gain similar amounts of financial remuneration to those on benefits
• high net worth individuals can move if they don’t like the UK tax system

So just where is the money going to come from to fund the UK population of financial expectation of what the state should provide?

jig!

Thanks for your comment. I agree to an extent, but the easy thing to do is to come up with reasons why not to do something rather than reasons why we should do something. A subsidiary issue might also be why are some of the things you mention more expensive in UK than elsewhere. Childcare for example. It's not as if the carers are making loads of money but it does seem as though the owners are counting it in. Why? Because our regulation is so poor. The same with our utilities which we pay more than they do in Europe, train fares, income tax, road tax, car insurance........ and so on. Our roads are in a shocking state and even when they get repaired, it lasts no time at all before they need repairing again. Even our (new) aircraft carriers were far from problem free and we had to pay more to out them right. Why, I ask myself? Because just about every government contract is seen as a cash cow due to poor regulation.

So, getting back to the point, if it's not a good time to start to change our systems, pray tell me, when would it be a good time? If we want to change, we (and the Govt) need to acknowledge to need to change in the first place.

But are they genuinely mental health disorders or are they emotional reactions? Is anxiety genuinely a mental health problem? According to a recent piece by an eminent psychiatrist, anxiety is a normal human response to certain circumstances.

I think we need to earn more. The higher the average wage, the more tax. So we need to focus government subsidues/incetives/ support to high paying sectors and on education to match those sectors. So ones that we export or do well ot add value.

We can't have the whole country working in an amazon warehouse and expect to raise a lot of tax, especually if the only person earning a lot decides they can do that from Dubai.

We have some manufacturing left, China is competing with good products, slightly cheaper and our own government won't do things like say buy British in their contracts. Each product may cost more but the jobs supported and tax raised outweigh it. Loads of other countries have these type of clauses.

We should have boosted private schools not hampered them.

We have a huge creative industry that's never mentioned.

It's not as if the carers are making loads of money but it does seem as though the owners are counting it in. Why? Because our regulation is so poor. The same with our utilities which we pay more than they do in Europe, train fares, income tax, road tax, car insurance........ and so on.

Absolutely, everything is short term gain and we have sold so much off.

I truly think things can't be fixed, the future is nothing more than higher living costs, higher taxes, declining services. 🤷🏻‍♀️

So, getting back to the point, if it's not a good time to start to change our systems, pray tell me, when would it be a good time? If we want to change, we (and the Govt) need to acknowledge to need to change in the first place.

Absolutely change is needed but the public won't vote for it. Most don't want to acknowledge the facts hence why people are buying into the utopia Reform are promising.

We have a very strange system. Actual support when you need it is very low so if you become unemployed there is a high chance you will have to get support from family. The state pension is low compared to other countries and has to be topped up by pension credit if that is your only income.

So I have no idea where the money goes, it seems like it’s in work benefits, these huge companies like Serco and Capita with Government contracts and final salary pensions for anyone lucky enough to get one. The state expects you live off less than £100 a week in reality. ( unemployment benefit or carers allowance levels ) My advice would be always have some cash savings of at least 6 months of living expenses to tied you over.

What we are seeing now is the culmination of privatisation, the 08 crash, QE & very little investment by business or government in services & young people. Decades of government mismanagement by both sides. As I said the shit has now hit the fan plus we have the changed demographics to deal with.

The state pension is low compared to other countries and has to be topped up by pension credit if that is your only income.

This isn't really true when you allow for the fact many here have private pensions plus when you add in all the other benefits. You can't look at things individually.

and final salary pensions for anyone lucky enough to get one.

I believe the majority of these schemes closed to newer entrants in the 00s.

“Build more council housing!” A noble aim, but I think the whole system of social housing needs to be reconsidered. As it stands, anyone can go on the list, but frankly you are out of luck forever if you have a job and are married. Perversely the system incentivises someone to remain jobless, single, and to have multiple children. Improving their lot reduces their chances of a council property.

This was not the case in the past. (And I think selling it off was disastrous; v nice 50s estate near me is now all scruffy student housing.)

Better the paying billions to private landlords imo.

Many older people in their 80s and 90s do not have other income. It just wasn’t a thing in their time as pensions weren’t available as a saving mechanism for working class people. My parents had life insurance that paid on their death. A bloke would come round the house to collect the money- that was it.

Yes, anxiety is a normal response to certain circumstances. It is underpinned by physiological responses that can come debilitating if the circumstances are almost impossible to change. So, living hand to mouth, with no certainty or security can induce debilitating anxiety. Managing that "emotional response" takes effort, and an understanding of it. It makes you feel unable to change the circumstances at all. It's a vicious cycle. It can contribute to digestive issues, pain issues, insomnia, and lead to unhealthy coping strategies which compound the issues. Throw in fear, hopelessness and external judgement, and "normal" anxiety becomes a disorder.

I wonder why it's on the rise?

Hmm. I wonder.

Many older people in their 80s and 90s do not have other income.

I never said they did but not all pensioners are that age...
70% do have a private pension, it's about the whole not individuals.

Starmer was trying to save 5 billion a year from cutting benefits. The shadow economy is losing the treasury 200 billion a year.
Traders and service providers could be made to present an invoice and be paid in to a business account.
I have work done, payable by bank transfer then when given the bank details, find it's a current account. Still not being declared.
It would also expose some who are claiming benefits they're not entitled to as well.

Conversely, why wasn't it on the rise, to the level it is now, during the war or other periods of enormous unrest and uncertainty? - maybe because every normal emotion wasn't scrutinised and pathologised then?

If we stop giving everything to illegals it would be a good start

Conversely, why wasn't it on the rise, to the level it is now, during the war or other periods of enormous unrest and uncertainty? - maybe because every normal emotion wasn't scrutinised and pathologised then?

It was high after the War but I would argue that hope helped eg the creation of the NHS & huge house building effort.

But perhaps the population was somewhat more robust then too and were able to cope the challenges? One might argue that life has become just a little bit too comfortable for many and when difficulties do arise, some (many?) are unable to cope, particularly the younger ones.

True, but we've since been overtaken by those countries which, traditionally, had lower productivity e.g. France, Italy, Belgium. They have clearly "upped their game".

I am pointing out the level of poverty the Government is ok with, the State pension compared to other countries is low and many older people just live off that as the system hasn’t even been able to get them on pension credit. Over 700,000 they think.

Sure many older people have other income and it’s taxed as should be. What I am trying to get through to people is think about your own personal circumstances. The truth is sudden unemployment or even disability is devastating for most people and there isn’t the safety net people believe.

Ah, well. It wasn't the done thing to talk about it. Nor was it a priority for analysis. So we don't know really how much anxiety was coursing through the nations psyche. Plenty of "keep calm and carry on" in public, gotta boost morale. Behind closed doors? PTSD in returning soldiers, alcoholism, DV because women were expected to get back in their box and rightly felt that was unfair.

The rosy tint of history written by the Victors means that those who suffered stamped down on it, because it's important to "fit in". It's incredibly complex, because humans are.

Bingo points for the first person who brings up "resilience" and bemoans the current lack of it.

This wasn't about NHS budget. My comment was about welfare - benefits to be precise. Excl state pension

But not to the same extent