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 has always been the case, not just Waitrose shoppers, animals charities famously rake in a lot more than any charity that supports the poor or disadvantaged/ ill/ disabled/ elderly etc etc.

I think a lot more people weren't 'good' dog owners a couple of decades back... society has come a long way in recognising they can't just be left at home by themselves all day...

We’ve had recessions, crashes and shortages/price rises etc for as long as I can remember. The vast amount without government handouts.

They pass - just a case of ploughing through them.

I don't think you know what a welfare state is to be honest. Maybe look up terms before you use them. While you're at it, look up the percentage of GDP and the percentage of government spending on benefits and pensions over the last 2-3 decades. Then come back and make your point. Well, you won't be able to, because the benefits bill isn't unsustainable at all, it's stable. But you can give it a try.

They pass - just a case of ploughing through them.

Except we never recovered from the last crash…

Probably more than being so obviously inconvenienced at having it spelt out to you does 🤷‍♂️

It is very different today, than when I was young.
I remember having swimming lessons, and a few goes on a tennis court. There was no after school activity every night, phones at 10 years old or anything like today. We played in our street and with our siblings.

As a young adult I was terrified when I owed £50 to my Next catalogue, and didn’t want to be in debt. If you wanted something, you had to save up for it, then buy it.

When I got my first job I scrimped and saved £300 a month to save for a deposit on a flat.

I guess expectations have changed. As that line in the song goes by James, “If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor”.

Consumerism has a lot to answer for. We are encouraged to work and spend, spend, spend. We don’t need all the crap we’ve got, but we are conditioned to think that if we don’t have a flashy car, house, 2 holidays a year, loads of clothes, a phone less than 2 years old and every gadget going, then we are hard done by.

My DH has south med heritage, and when we go to their places, my DH comments how they’ve not changed anything about their homes for decades, and don’t spend loads of money, yet all seem to have better work/life balances than we do, when in comparison we are very well off.

Nope, still don't get it.

50% of the benefits bill is pensioners. In 2008 it was only 45%. Over the last 20 years the proportion of the population that are pensioners has increased from 15% to 19% and is expected to increase to 25% in the next 20 years.

And that’s with the pension age rising & more 60 somethings who are disabled are classed in the working category whereas historically they would be in the pensioner category.

Absolutely, the ones at the top behind all this are laughing all the way to the bank while the “plebs” they’d never associate with outside of all this do their bidding.

The pension is not a benefit in the way that people normally use the word. It is something that has for years been sold as something you pay in for.

People pay nowhere near enough in

Ok, but the thing is, I’ve paid shit loads of tax all my life, and when I am no longer able to work, I should be supported.

I’ll get about £12k pension, and I sure as hell have paid way more into that pot than I’ll get out.

If the social contract is void, as in we aren’t getting pensions, then the government needs to stop taking so much money off us, so we can pay more into private pensions.

Why am I not surprised?

You can't compare poverty over the years because the definition of poverty has changed. Not being able to go on a week's holiday was definitely not a criteria to define poverty 50 years ago.

Also it's a stupid criteria as it comes down to priority. A parent can chose to have a car for the convenience and not able to afford a car whilst another might go on two holidays but walk or take the bus to go everywhere.

The problem is the media loves to distort statistics to make it sound like much worse than it is.

In the end, if we want to include more things in the list of what is deemed poverty if deprived of them, then accept that elders are not going to feel sorry for you, especially those who never got the chance to go on holiday but are not traumatised for it.

Your taxes weren't just for your pension. What about ALL the other services you've consumed over your life, i.e. education, social and health care, roads, police, fire service, defence, environment, and no doubt some benefits along the way even if only child benefit, but likely also maternity pay, maybe unemployment, maybe tax credits/UC, etc. Unless you've been earning an average of around £40k per year (at today's rates), you'll have been a net "taker" rather than a net contributor. The vast majority take out more than they pay in.

I am not being argumentative.

People are of course free to vent, I am just not sure it achieves much.

But if it makes them feel better, no harm in it.

Just had the results of my year end appraisal today - strong performance rating, but a pay rise of only 1.3% (as I’m at the top of my salary band). I’m in a professionally qualified role with 15 years experience, but the only way to keep my income increasing in line with price rises would be to continually get promoted and I’m afraid I’m not good enough at corporate bullshit for that! It’s just depressing thinking that I work so hard (as does DH) but it still doesn’t feel like we have much to show for it in terms of purchasing power.

Fair enough.

Word spreads, that's why I consider it useful to 'mouth off' about the gross inequality so many of us are subject to. It might just catch alight with someone who is skilled at bringing real change about. There have been such people throughout history, transformative voices.

All some of us can hope to do is contribute, in our own small way, to keeping the message alive.

Indeed and my parents had classmates in school with no shoes!

That is not how it is sold. For decades. In fact all my life it was a thing you paid in for. When you retired. Changing that message now is not okay. Technically correct, but morally not. You don’t invite people to pay in extra for their pension and then say ‘oh sorry, you won’t get a pension’.
The legal case will be huge. And more expensive !
It will not be a vote winner. Removing it or trying to. A more positive solution is needed.
I don’t think it should be lumped in with ‘welfare’ at all frankly. It is something quite different.

I am a big believer in personal responsibility, but thats another thread.

That is not how it is sold. For decades. In fact all my life it was a thing you paid in for. When you retired.

Its just a tax that pays for current pensioners.

Yes I do get that. Technically ! As I explained in my post above.

Sorry, no it is not a tax. It is insurance.

Ok, but the thing is, I’ve paid shit loads of tax all my life, and when I am no longer able to work, I should be supported

Most haven’t though, I get it as a higher rate tax payer I have paid lots too but my pension age still keeps moving out.