What will actually happen?

[usernamechanged1]

There are many threads on here about mortgage, rent, utility, food prices all going up. I don’t think there are many left who aren’t noticing the financial strain.

So, whilst we’ve all heard “this can’t go on…” and “when will this stop…”, it is continuing to go on and shows no signs of stopping. I’m wondering what we should actually expect.

I feel like we’re heading towards a place where people will be working but literally unable to survive. I appreciate there are people in that position already, so what happens when this is a mass problem affecting a majority of the country.

It’s akin to working an eight hour shift and having 13 tasks taking 1 hour each to do. It’s simply impossible; the maths don’t add up.

Is it out of the realms of possibility that we could see people take to the streets? For crime to shoot up (shoplifting, robberies etc).

I think many of us thought the CoL crisis would be temporary, but maybe it isn’t.

The make do and mend posters are ignoring the fact that there is a huge amount of wealth in the country, hoarded by a small percentage of the population while the majority get poorer and suffer increasingly worse living standards. That the environment is fucked while the rich continue to rampantly consume resources, even while the rest of the country shivers without heating. It is outrageous that working doesn't pay for the essentials for so many and it isn't sustainable to push more and more people into poverty. It isn't acceptable that school buildings are crumbling and they can't afford enough staff, it isn't acceptable that ambulances can't come to people for hours or that hospitals are in a state of emergency, that public services are disappearing before our eyes - but the rich get richer and richer.

I think it’s appalling that we’re expected to be resourceful, to go to bed with umpteen layers of clothing on, to eat budget foods. The apathy in the UK is mental.

Generally the ones who think it's ok to go backwards are talking about how others should adapt act, not them.

I've travelled a lot and the lifestyles were totally different virtually everywhere. Most of the world don't live in Instagram perfect houses with heating and hot running water on tap, go on massive holidays 3x a year, and drive brand new cars

I'm not sure why you have put running water & holidays on the same level but I would say the vast majority of people here do not go on the massive holidays 3 x a yr. Loads of people rent non insta perfect places 🙄

For me, shit got real when I read that it’s now cheaper to buy a house in NYC than here 🤯

its crazy and scary

I think the majority of people (not all) who say they can't afford to live actually mean they can't afford to live the lifestyle they are accustomed to.

My personal terror is the cost of energy. For most of my adult life I haven't even thought about it. Heating on when I wanted and thermostat at least 21. Now the prices have tripled/quadrupled and it seems to have come out of nowhere. I'm watching the meters like a hawk.
I agree completely about the wealth gap, but it seems to be happening worldwide and I don't know how we change that. Nobody needs to be a billionaire, IMO.
Everyone moans about the 70s but financially society (at least in the west) was a lot more equal. The rich were taxed more and wages went up regularly. The average CEO only (only!) earned an average of 50 times what their lowest paid worker got. Now it's multiples of 100. When I worked in banking my boss used to get £20,000,000 a year bonus. Jeff Bezos is buying space rockets and his employees are treated like slaves.
Now taxes are cut for the better off and increased for the rest of us. We just seem to have let them get away with it and have come to believe that if people are poor it's their own fault and they're not working hard enough. Nobody who works full time should be homeless or have to use foodbanks.
We've gone from being a society that took care of each other to being every man for himself.

The problem was lowering interest rates and printing money. This allowed companies/investors to basically gamble money on risky things.

If anyone was paying attention then they'd have realised that house prices should've dropped during covid, not risen. That the stock market shouldn't be doing well right now, but it carries on.

It's not normal, they're signs of a rigged and broken global economy.

The rich will be fine, the rest won't be.

people think ultra low interest rates are a good thing they aren't.

And I think a lot of people who are doing fine now are keeping quiet because they know lots of people are struggling. If those who are doing ok are keeping quiet, it sounds like everyone is having a hard time. And I don't think everyone is struggling. We have a fixed rate mortgage, fixed rate energy (for another 6 months), electric car and secure jobs. We are noticing price rises, particularly food shopping and food and drinks out, but we aren't really being affected, apart from saving a little less.

The place we see it the most is at primary school where the school is asking for money where it wouldn't have before. E.g. a voluntary donation to pay for the coach to take the children to their half term of swimming lessons, annual trip to the panto at Christmas cancelled. That kind of stuff.

No one around me seems to be affected yet, was discussing this with DP only last night. We are certainly feeling the pinch but we rent privately which really doesn't help. Like a PP the energy price has been the real kicker. On a pre-paymemt meter for gas and it has literally been eating money for the last few months

I think many of the over 55’s knew cheap money would come to an end eventually but unfortunately younger people thought it would go on forever. We never took our kids abroad in the 80s/90’s because we were paying a 15% mortgage rate so when money go cheaper we over paid our mortgage so are mortgage free but still only went camping in France.

Schools are suffering particularly primary because of huge energy bills & pay rises but not additional funding from the gov.

There is also a big drop in numbers in London are other places. Funding is based on headcount.

schoolsweek.co.uk/councils-cut-primary-school-places-as-baby-boom-flattens/

I think many of the over 55’s knew cheap money would come to an end eventually but unfortunately younger people thought it would go on forever.

Do you have any evidence of this?

If governments print money for over a decade, you're going to get inflation.

We never took our kids abroad in the 80s/90’s because we were paying a 15% mortgage rate so when money go cheaper we over paid our mortgage so are mortgage free but still only went camping in France.

You are aware that 5% rates today are the equivalent of the past higher rates due to the higher prices in terms of impact on disposable income?

My in-laws house was about 40k in the mid 80s, they sell for 1.8m now.

Yes. I'm certainly not one of the 'if you're on benefits you shouldn't have nice things' brigade but I wonder about the number of luxury cars on the road, and the number of people buying massive houses or going on loads of holidays. Yes, people prioritise different things, but I'm worried people are over stretching debt-wise and it's going to implode.

Yes and before people say, "wages were a lot lower," my FIL, as a miner, was on more than 40k and my grandmother's wage actually fell when the textile industry collapsed.

Some is funded through crime obviously or tax avoidance & then plenty of people have family help.

I agree, we should be aspiring and actively working towards a 4 day week, for example. Life expectancy going up, not down, and healthy life expectancy at that. Clean water would be a bloody start. Renewable energy. It all seems so backward.

@Tekkentime I heard on the radio yesterday that 52k today is the equivalent to 30k in the early 00s. That's insane when many of those 30k jobs still pay that now & you are approaching the higher tax bracket.

Therapy can really help with this type of misanthropic superiority complex.

I think the bubble has burst on our cheap throwaway culture .
Would it be a bad thing to bin off sweatshops and the £12 Saturday night dress for more sustainable quality clothes . Higher price yes but have less of them if you need and at least sweatshop staff won't be raking profit for a few bosses and they are the ones who can't afford to live . We have been consumed with the need for cheaper and cheaper and this has led to cheap throwaway labour . People who work hard and earn peanuts . This is what needs to change . People need to get used to not continually shopping for cheap tat , pair a fair price and companies will pay fair wages .

Why this specifically? This thread is full of people's opinions.

I don't think the COL is anywhere near people taking to the streets. Restaurants are rammed and so are the coffee shops.

I think people will have slightly cut down in other ways in order to buy there weekly coffees at Costa.

Also let's not forget covid meant more work in covid and even now £££ for me I got paid more!

That's a no then 😆