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.

This is true. My DC’s primary was one of them once so every time we went in they’d put about 25 tokens in (their school won!).

I have gone off a tangent, looking for Pete Townsend songs that might be pertinent.
My Generation. Generation X was actually first used about the early boomers. I.E. The Who's Generation.

And plenty of tax revenue generated by those industries. Your point is?

There is nothing passive aggressive about my statement whatsoever. The uk is sadly turning into a welfare state. Surprisingly I doubt that sentiment aligns with your views which you of course too are welcome to share here.

Great post.

Also between 2010-24 the UK had no specific policy to prevent child poverty. That's shocking when you think about it, particularly in connection with the normalisation of poverty by the "austerity" policies of that time. No wonder some rail against the very provision of child related benefits and the idea that people might actually want to take their children on days out or holidays. We've been primed to believe that poverty looks like children with rickets.

Yes - In the North East of Scotland formerly busy, thriving towns like Elgin and Huntly are almost completely boarded up and major employers in all sectors are announcing thousands of redundancies.

The city of Aberdeen is the same, shops shutting (when we lost John Lewis the surrounding area of shops also died) cinemas shutting, restaurants shutting. Even M&S has moved and downsized significantly. Only gyms, salons and jewellers seem to be doing well.

I am in my fifties, part of ‘the squeezed middle’ and all the above is starting to frighten me, if I’m honest.

To answer The OP’s question, no I’m not sick of hearing about it. It needs to be talked about more.

I guess the problem is that the link between hard work and economic success is increasingly being seen for the myth or, at best, partial truth that it's always been. Hard work alone doesn't guarantee a roof over your head or enough to eat. And even if it did, the basics of life shouldn't depend on your ability to "work hard" - lots will never be able to do that. They really are a baseline below which nobody should fall.

What does that mean?

Snap x and I'm on the "affluent" South coast.

Our town has recently acquired a Reform Mayor. Whelp.

So without the triple lock, many pensioners would fall into relative poverty. Yet, so many on here want it scrapped.

The UK has been a welfare state for almost 80 years now. What's the matter, don't you like our NHS or state school provision?

I agree with the sentiment and my post was a bit glib. The problem is that policy decisions and ideology have left us between two worlds, we have neither the higher earnings of the richer countries nor the social structures to support us such as those you describe. We end up with a huge, huge bill for in work benefits. That’s where our money is going, supporting people in work. The whole argument that goes on politically, in the media, on here is entirely missing the point.

To be honest, I am far more fed up with the politics, incompetence and mismanagement that have caused the very real cost of living crisis. Average people shouldn't have to cut back and be worse off than their parents' generation. Brexit, the mismanagement and corruption during the pandemic, the mindless proliferation of AI and subsequent job losses, the apparent inability of large corporations to curb their profits and pass on price decreases etc - that's all more worthwhile to get upset about than people who are quite rightly angry and frustrated by price increases massively outstripping pay increases.

A triple lock on f all is still f all. The whole triple lock debate misses the point that our pensions are extremely low. That is the problem that must be addressed.

Would they? Is there nothing more targeted that could be put into place? I read an article by Zoe Williams yesterday where she says,

Why, when pension benefits and the state pension amount to £178bn annually – which is greater than the housing benefit, disability benefit and unemployment or low-income benefits bills combined – do we never talk about the triple lock?

It wouldn't be beyond the wit of policy makers to decide something that would be better value for money. Now the two party system has fractured, which political party depends on the pensioner vote so much that it would be expedient to keep it?

I'd like to hear more about it - it's an issue that needs to be addressed somehow. And it is really happening despite what the OP thinks.

So you can only go to softplay once a month instead of weekly, not long before the softplay closes. People who own or work in softplay now have no jobs - how do they cut their cloth? Get other jobs? The standard "go work in a care home" line will no doubt be wheeled out.

Wanting everyone to spend less and shut up will affect everyone in the long-term.
People shouldn't have to be on the poverty line to be allowed to complain that a meal out for a family of 4 now costs £100 instead of £50, or whatever small piece of joy their lives formerly held, and they are now being told that they should simply be glad they don't have rickets!

@Katypp I spent several years at university and now in a job paying almost 6 figures. Taking into account repaying the student loans and the extortionate costs required to buy a home, I struggle. Nobody should be struggling on the top percentage of income so for anyone paid less than this, it must be horrendous. It’s ok to complain about that!

Now the two party system has fractured, which political party depends on the pensioner vote so much that it would be expedient to keep it?

Demographically they are a huge block so all parties play to them.

The whole triple lock debate misses the point that our pensions are extremely low. That is the problem that must be addressed.

Which pensions are you comparing to? State pensions in other countries? Not comparable. For one there are far fewer private pensions with people & employers paying more into that state system.

We also don’t base pensions on contributions, it’s a flat rate & lower & middle earners do not pay the same level of tax vs other countries.

To pay in what a pensioner gets out you are going to have to be on 50k for some time. Most people don’t earn this so when demographics change the pension benefits become a drag on the economy.

So basically, you're saying that only people on tbe breadline have the right to be annoyed?

I'm not sick of hearing about it. I'm sick of there being a cost of living crisis, which is largely driven by greed of the few, and their ability to chisel more money out of the many.

I will never forget that energy prices doubled in 2022.

Mmm, that poster is describing places that only contain people with disposable income! Even then, no way of knowing whether people who used to go for a fortnight have had to cut back to 10 days and so on.

You have no idea of my views or anything about me...speculating on how mine are likely "sadly" not like yours is bizarre.

It was passive aggressive to simply state "you might want to think about why that is" instead of giving your actual views. Especially when all I said was that as we've worked hard for our standard of living, we're allowed to be annoyed that we can't keep it up. When we're working just as hard as we were before, if not harder.

You might want to consider WHY the UK is becoming a welfare state. The encouragement from previous governments (looking at you Mrs Thatcher) to spend on credit and cease manufacturing for ourselves, buying into the immediate gratification principles are where it all started. People want this for nothing these days. And those of us who work for what we have, and receive nothing in any form of benefits outside of the NHS and state education (which, we pay for in large amounts of tax) are the ones who see our incomes stay static while our costs rise.

Enough of a view for you?

exactly this!! The gap between rich and poor is massive and getting bigger! in my SE town it is very obvious.
There are loads of new cars, restaurants packed, mums that gym and shop while kids are at school and there are increasing numbers of food banks/ charity hubs to provide for those that struggle to eat.

Its actually disgusting

Gemma Collins?