To ask where has all the money gone/where does it go

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DH and I are late forties.

It feels like the country is crumbling around us and there is just no money for anything.

I've just seen something showing the tax thresholds that have been frozen for decades and this got me thinking where does all the tax go.

Why does the country feel so poor these days? Is it a slow.decline due to Brexit or it is world wide events wars etc that are biting.

The ridiculous summer savings scheme is hardly going to help but what can the govt actually do to get the wheels of the economy turning again.

There must some money but where has it all gone?

This isn't political just a genuine puzzlement that we are paying more tax than ever but the country and lots of people in it are skint.

Its interesting reading everyone's replies.

The parking comment is an interesting one. In Spain you can park for free near beautiful stunning beaches. The little shops and business are busy and there is generally a buzz about the place.

In the UK if you want to go to the beach for the.day you get charged to park. £10 in Littlehampton and over £20 in Brighton and even then the water is probably full of 💩

Bank of England.

yes there is a world bank that is largely for lending money for infrastructure projects to countries (dams, airports and similar)

The EU strongly encouraged austerity;

2010
Curb your spending, Brussels tells Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown was dealt an embarrassing blow when Brussels gave warning that Britain must do more to curb its spiralling debt.
The European Commission wants Labour to outline further spending cuts and spell out where the axe will fall.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/curb-your-spending-brussels-tells-gordon-brown-3rkmql67hxs

May 2012
EU austerity drive country by country

The 27 EU member states aim to cut deficits to a maximum of 3% of GDP by the financial year 2014-15, so what belt-tightening measures are the countries taking?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162176

The EU today;

BRUSSELS, Jan 20 (Reuters) - European Union finance ministers started disciplinary steps against Finland on Tuesday for running an excessive budget deficit, giving Helsinki until 2028 to narrow the gap to within EU limits of 3% of the country's gross domestic product or potentially face fines for non-compliance...

"In its recommendation, the Council (of EU finance ministers) stipulates that Finland should therefore take effective action and present by 30 April 2026 the necessary measures to reduce its deficit," they said in a statement.

The deficit will be brought down through strict controls on net spending by the government, and the ministers said limits will be set on how much such net spending in Finland is allowed to grow in the coming years to achieve that.

https://www.reuters.com/business/eu-starts-disciplinary-steps-against-finland-excessive-deficit-2026-01-20/

In a way, yes.

In the past we did have more people volunteer, and I think there were a variety of reasons for that, not least it was more common to have families with an adult not in FT employment. People now are working longer and also there are far fewer SAHPs. But those people did do a lot of socially useful work which was not highly economically productive in the strict sense. Now we need to pay people to do those things.

But the cost of getting volunteers through the system does add up for organisations, often ones with limited funds that would otherwise go to other things. And the time commitment involved in all that lead up makes it harder for people to get involved as well. My cousin for example coaches football as a volunteer, but he had to take time off from his small business to go get the police checks, and go on an afternoon course. Not everyone could do that.

Things like this seem small but when you think of them across all kinds of industries, it starts to add up. We always think, oh, that's a good idea, we should do thta, of course we can afford it! But eventually it starts to eat into what you are putting into productivity and it creates so many barriers in business as well.

And it's not just the UK, it's in Europe and North America as well.

This is what people need to think about when they can't figure out why so many Americans voted for Trump. This is the situation he told wc voters in places like Michigan that he was going to address, a problem which they can see as well as we can and which other candidates had not touched in years, in fact they all claimed that globalisation would be better for everyone.

It really is just crazy when government seems to make it as difficult as possible for small businesses to manage.

It often makes me think of an interview I saw on Triggernormetry where they talked to a business owner with businesses in both the US and a central African country (I want to say Kenya but I am not positive.) She was saying that the reason business struggles there, and in many other African countries, is because the really invasive regulation means it takes forever to get a business started, to hire employees, it's very difficult to fire or even lay people off, and as a result people don't take the risk, or often just can't, or if they have a business they cannot grow it.

I think that is what is happening now in many other places as well.

The civil service wastes huge amounts . A prime example Southmead hospital in Bristol has an atrium the size of 2 football pitches which needs cleaning, maintenance etc but has nothing to do with patent care. There's also a 1/4 million pound clock!

I agree that money is sometimes wasted in the CS. I don’t understand though what a hospital atrium and clock has to do with the CS?

I love holidaying in Spain for the ease that this brings. But the parking isn’t free as such - it’s just paid for differently. Citizens pay for it via higher property and business taxes, and councils get a higher proportion from central government than the UK.

A lot of people in the UK seem to believe that we can have Scandinavian standards of public services whilst paying UAE levels of tax!

An earlier poster said,

“If we want stuff to be cheap (food, toys, technology, building materials, etc), we have 2 options:…”

Insisting on almost everything being “cheap” is a corrosive mindset. Buying quality but less of it or less often should be normal.

I don't think that is quite the point that poster was getting at.

Rather, it was about supporting the things that lead to business thriving; because people can park, the businesses thrive, and therefore they, and their employees, have the money to pay more taxes, which goes to car parks but also other things.

By charging in an attempt to money-grub, they are actually reducing the success of the businesses in the community and it creates a kind of downward spiral.

I don’t disagree with that. I would like to see it happen.

But if the government offered the electorate a choice of paying higher council tax and business rates to cover the cost of free parking, I doubt most people would see the value and want to pay up.

It would help the economy as well as being more convenient for motorists, and be more efficient as parking inspectors would no longer be needed.

but we seem obsessed with money grubbing in this country. And fearful that someone else might be getting something more than we are.

This can't possibly be true...can it?
If so, thats outrageous, and completely unsustainable.

£122 billion goes on statutory education for starters - free schooling for our children from 5-16. Add on free/subsidised nursery/childcare, hospitals, GP surgeries, roads, welfare, pensions etc it's not hard to see how it's hard to make the money go around. Especially when you factor in waste such as HS2, contracts awarded and never fulfilled etc

It isn’t.

https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/article/12431/Wiltshire-Council-budget-confirmed-for-2025-26-with-prevention-continuing-to-be-the-council-s-top-priority

Old person here too, reading the elderly parents/ dementia threads is so depressing, but society is nowhere ready to start the conversation about the obvious solution, the cost born by young people who use nhs services far less is terrible

Another old person. Dementia is my biggest fear. I’d love to be able to opt for assisted suicide in the event of a diagnosis. I’m absolutely furious that I’ll be denied that. My solution is to document that if I’m diagnosed with it no treatment for any other condition is to be carried out. Pain relief only.

Things were shit before Brexit and austerity but those things made it worse.
tax dodgers
decline in British industry/manufacturing
people not looking after themselves and becoming a drain on the NHS.
chronic underfunding of education and the police service.
government waste eg spending £££ to change a logo etc
people being selfish/greedy/dishonest when it comes to taking money from the state.
privatisation of essential services
turning schools into academies
PFI contracts
fighting illegal wars

I'm not sure anybody would listen to these instructions? I recall an OT working with my Dad, mobilising him and so on. He was days from death.

As I said I meant it in the wider scope of people who work for the government...the NHS are funded by government hence including them as well as local government

Where the government spends it’s revenue is published information

Social Protection (Welfare & Pensions): Typically the largest single expense (around 30%), this funds the State Pension, Universal Credit, disability benefits, and housing support.
Health: Consuming approximately one-fifth of the budget, this primarily funds the NHS to cover hospital operations, GP surgeries, and front-line medical services.
Education: Accounting for roughly 10% of spending, this pays for primary and secondary schools, higher education funding, and vocational training.
Debt Interest: A significant portion of revenue goes toward paying the interest accumulated on the UK's national debt.
General Public Services & Defence: This includes funding for the armed forces, police, fire services, and the administrative operations of government departments.
Economic Affairs & Infrastructure: Funds are distributed to support transport (like roads and railways), regional development, and industry.

In a nutshell:

2008 global recession
Brexit
COVID
War in Ukraine
Wars in Middle East

The first three in particular would generally be expected as once in a generation events. We've had all of them one after another in less than 20 years. Oh and the welfare bill has gone up by about 500%, we have an ageing population and also now a sting at the other end as young people's entry level jobs are being hoovered up by AI.

Another old person. Dementia is my biggest fear. I’d love to be able to opt for assisted suicide in the event of a diagnosis.

The trouble with that is it’s expensive.

The deficit wasn’t higher in 2015 but the overall national debt was because we were still borrowing to service the (shrinking) deficit.

The EU would not have saved us from designing the vainglorious HS2 project the way we did. It has wasted billions, We should have spent money on improving existing networks. Thank you Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
The EU regulations about animal welfare did cause us to spend £100million on the bat tunnel and even more on the fish problem at the Power Station.
Google and other companies setting up £Billion HQs on the land near Kings Cross are there because they would be so controlled by EU regulations. Brexit has helped them to be here.

Tue. Although that money will largely be spent in the UK and goes back into the economy, helping to boost business profits, employment and government tax receipts. It’s not like household budgets, as in when money is gone it’s gone,

It has gone to the super rich, by pursuing policies which benefit them rather than proper systematic investment.you can get away with neglecting investment for a while until things start to break, and that's what is happening now.
Brexit is a red herring, our growth has been similar to other European countries