To be absolutely sick of hearing about the cost of living crisis

[Katypp]

I surely can't be the only person sick to death of hearing about the cost of living crisis?
I am tired of reporters interviewing middle-class (usually) mothers inside paid activities such as soft play and hearing them moan about how they are struggling to make ends meet.
Have we completely lost the ability to cut our cloth according to our means or does 'struggling' now mean carrying on spending as usual then complaining when there's no money left?
There have never been as many massive new cars on the road, towns are full of hairdressers, nail bars, brow bars, tanning salons, soft play, play cafes, coffee shops, ice cream parlours, dog groomers, most of which didn't exist 25 years ago and are probably the recipients of the money of the families who say they can't keep up with spiralling costs.
Yes, some families will have been hard up before prices started to go up and will have nothing else to cut back on. They have my sympathy.
But i am utterly fed up of hearing how hard households ars being hit by the cost of living crisis when all that's needed is a few minor cutbacks which they don't want to make.

Easier doesn’t mean easy though
Well no, life isn't easy, full stop.

I have two young adults navigating the current economy. It certainly isn't easy and I do think they face challenges we didn't.

But all in all, they and their friends are so much quicker at feeling sorry for themselves and feeling hard done by when my generation ever was. We were grateful for what we had and what we had certainly included fewer luxuries.

But all in all, they and their friends are so much quicker at feeling sorry for themselves and feeling hard done by when my generation ever was

I blame the parents then!

Figures show that savings rates are increasing though. So many people are choosing to put a higher proportion of their disposable income into savings than they did in the past.

I blame the parents then!
Of course you, always the fault of others....

As it is, my kids are learning that if they want more, they'll have to work even harder and move up the ladder which is exactly what they are doing.

I think there is an expectation to be grateful that you aren't starving and to shut up and put up with it but why should we

It’s such an odd attitude. Why shouldn’t people complain?

I remember all the pensioners getting their perms and blue rinses when I was a kid.

Yep, gran had her hair set weekly. I had my hair done in Jan.

There you go then.

You can't compare poverty and deprivation to 50 or 100 years ago though - you have to measure it on a relative basis in relation to what the majority deems to be a basic standard of living - unless you want to start claiming that people are only poor if they don't have an indoor toilet and running water!

In the early 20th century, poverty and living standards were defined in the 1942 Beveridge report which outlined the need to tackle the five giants to enable society to recover the ongoing ravages from the first world war and the ongoing ones of the second world war. The report formed the basis on the modern welfare and health system - the cradle to the grave safety net by tackling Want (by ensuring minimum income), Disease (universal healthcare), Ignorance (compulsory universal education), Squalor (suitable housing) and Idleness (employment and job creation).

In the 1970s Peter Townsend started to look at relative poverty and showed that poverty was much more widespread if the definition was based on living conditions and activities that are customary in society - and these things change over time.

In the early 1900's deprivation would have been things like no coat, poor nutrition, overcrowded housing.

In the 1970s it would have been poor diet, not being able to afford a TV or to go for a pint down the pub.

In the 21st century it is things like not having easy digital access or being able to afford to participate in social activities.

Today, the governments poverty stats measure those that have income that is 60% or less of median income after housing costs (rent or mortgage and water). These levels are:

Single adult with no children: approx. £176 per week (£9,152 annually)
Couple with no children: approx. £296 per week (£15,392 annually)
Couple with two children: approx. £547 per week (£28,444 annually)

Based on the Townsend relative deprivation model, poverty is defined as:

Not being able to undertake social activities: Cannot afford a week’s holiday away from home, or cannot invite friends/family over for a meal.
Not being able to meet basic dietary needs: Go without a cooked meal or fresh meat several days a week.
Not being able to mee basic household standards: Cannot afford to replace worn-out furniture or lack access to central heating and basic indoor amenities.

In 1997 33% of children lived in poverty with 25% living in deprivation
By 2008 it was 30% in poverty with 19% in deprivation.

Today childhood poverty remains at the 30% level, but deprivation has increased to 24%.

As a statistical measure childhood poverty has gotten no better in 18 years and relative deprivation has got worse. On top of that there has been a significant reduction in the availability and quality of public services and people's general satisfaction with life.

Studies show that the health and happiness of a population gets worse the bigger the gap between rich and poor.

Post war wealth inequality reduced before starting to increase in the 1980s. In the 1970s CEOs earned around 20 times the amount of a median earner. Today CEOs earn almost 80 times the amount of a median earner.

When you add to that the constant increase in share values and the increase in the number of billionaires which make owners and investors richer while wages stagnate.

It is easy to see how we have got to the position where the top 10% own over 50% of the countries wealth, the top 20% own 63% and the bottom 20% own just 0.5%!

It used to be said of the English upper classes that they prefer their dogs to their children.

However, our affection for dogs is not just limited to the middle and upper classes, I strongly suspect most people in the UK would rather help dogs than humans.

(Not me, I’m leaving it all to the Cats)

@Passaggressfedup If your dc are ungrateful then that is on you.

As it is, my kids are learning that if they want more, they'll have to work even harder and move up the ladder which is exactly what they are doing.

Which is noble I guess.

My hard work was a small part of my journey, family help was so much more important. Same for my dc.

We also import poverty

We should surely aspire to everyone having something of a reasonable standard of living?

As a Londoner though I do find it incredible that not all of England has free bus travel for U16s. I think Scotland also do and maybe Wales?

I agree with this too - people at the lower end of the income scale tend to spend locally, be it cafes, coffee shops, down at B&Q, hairdressers , corner shops, bakers, this does tend to keep local people in jobs, sticking vast amounts away every month and not spending, simply doesn’t .

Sorry OP, but I think it's vital that we shout about this from the rooftops as loudly as possible, no matter how annoying it is for you to listen to. I have always been careful with money, but there comes a point where budgeting is impossible when your outgoings are greater than your income. And I very much doubt people who are living on the breadline are paying to get their dogs groomed. People are reporting about it because it's a very significant problem for a lot of people. If you're lucky enough to be annoyed about listening to this, you're obviously one of the lucky ones. Good for you!

I'm 62. I have never had my "nails done" in my life.

I don't understand your point here?

It’s median, not mean. The median is the middle of the distribution, so it isn’t affected by the super‑rich - 50% of people are above it and 50% are below it.

The 60% threshold doesn’t create poverty as much as it reveals it. If more people fall below it, that’s because incomes at the bottom aren’t keeping up with the middle and not because the definition is too generous.

However, using the 60% of median income does hide the level of poverty. Relative deprivation using the Townsend model is a better reflection of people's real world day to day experience. Using the income measure, the percentage in poverty hasn't changed much, but relative deprivation has - and relative deprivation is not influenced that much by the super-rich as it looks at what society as a whole deems to be the acceptable minimum standards for life quality

It all depends on how much cloth you have to cut.

Or "the poor" as he calls them.

Haven't read the comments OP but I would call out your post.

Of course taking steps backwards through no fault of your own, when your circumstances haven't changed, is a difficult and emotional thing to deal with.

I'm struggling hugely with grocery shopping. Have cancelled my son (who has ADHD)'s gymnastics club and our soft play pass. No chance of affording

These things aren't good for families, it's unsettling and can be isolating as it pushes people away from being able to afford to do things that get them involved in their community.

I didn’t know Waitrose had those too (we don’t have a Waitrose in N/E Scotland) - interesting that there was a dog charity there, in our Tesco stores they are always three local activities for children eg: scout hut / after school club / village under 11’s football.

We bought our first house (2 bedrooms, big garden, decent area in the midlands) at age 19 in 1999 with one of us working full time and one working part time while at university (neither in particularly high paid jobs and no family help with income or deposits). There were times when we struggled, but we were still able to have a decent social life, go on holiday and afford some luxuries

I sacrificed the 'normal' university experience to do it and I am glad that I did - five years later we sold our house for 3 times what we had paid for it despite neither our wages or our earning potential had increased 3 times in the same period.

If we had waited, we would have really struggled to get on the housing ladder as first time buyers for a good few years.

Plenty of [taxpayers'] money for tattoos, fags, smartphones, and booze.

Yes. That was when I started scrolling rather than reading.

The Waitrose thing - you know it's mostly children who do the tokens, right? My children always pick up multiple tokens and put them in whatever the cutest option is. (Except we shop at Tesco.)

They didn’t cause the pandemic or the wars that have led to the current situation.

Not sure about the pandemic, however Conservatives and Reform, as well as some EU politicians, are up to their eye balls in Russian ‘donations’, connections and other dirt. The war in Ukraine is a direct consequence of that.

Peter Townsend, "We don't get fooled again". But we are getting fooled again.