Benefits rising twice as fast as salaries!!! DM

[StarlightMcKenzie]

really?

Happy New Year, Mini.

Yes, I don't like that article. It is the old divide and rule. Of course benefits should rightly rise by inflation. Benefits aren't a luxury, they are a necessity for families to feed and look after themselves in times of hardship.

Workers take home more than people on benefits and just because workers are being squeezed, does not mean that people on benefits should be squeezed to the same extent. If they really want to save workers' tax money then stop blowing it on windfarm subsidies to rich landowners before cutting benefits for the poorest in the land.

The article didn't mention the percentage increases that some people get in one year, just what benefit claimants received over 5 years.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2218673/Goldman-Sachs-bankers-scoop-average-payouts-280-000-fresh-allegations-toxic-culture-emerge-renowned-investment-bank.html

A lot of people claim tax credits due to the fact that wages are not keeping up with the cost of living!

'workers take home more than people on benefits'-

... And therein lies the rub doesn't it? If only it were as simple as the unemployed being paid a basic amount to be able to live, those in low paid or part time work bringing home something above that, and those working longer hours in tougher or more skilled jobs bringing home more again...

It's been said before many times on MN. What actually matters to people is how much money they have in their pocket, to pay the rent, council tax, food, fuel- and how much is left over. It matters not whether it comes from a wage or tax credits- its all money which paying for the necessities. And the issue is: working longer/ harder does not necessarily mean being better off. It's not just about the amount of cash benefits and having things like rent and council tax subsidised- its the fringe stuff as well: free prescriptions, dental care, school dinners.

Many people who are really squeezed nowadays are not just those on low Incomes (or no incomes) it's those who earn just above the thresholds so get no benefits at all yet have all the costs of working (childcare, commutes) and have seen their wages frozen or even decreased while the cost of living goes up

Workers take home more than people on benefits and just because workers are being squeezed, does not mean that people on benefits should be squeezed to the same extent.

In an ideal world yes I'd agree. But in practice it's very hard to justify taking more money from those who are working to pay for annual increases to benefits when those very workers are not seeing any rise themselves.

It's not about what's fair/not fair. It's about what's possible.

I agree, it isn't acceptable to tax low waged workers to pay for the growing pool of unemployed and the ever expanding welfare needs of the impoverished. So how about taxing those that refuse to employ, those who rob workers of a decent salary and stuff their own pockets at the expense of the state, the worker and the welfare recipients. Tax wealth, tax corporations. If they won't redistribute wealth through paying fair wages, seize it and redistribute it through the state.

Salaries of those at the top are shooting up higher.

Why not of the workers who actually generate their income?

I think it's just that you don't hear it now yours are older, Xenia. I have friends with five chikdren who get it all the time and I've certainly seen it on MN.

Why isn't possible for workers to get higher salaries at the expense of the senior staff...??

Being as wages at the top are extremely secretive, who nows? IDS and co make complex debates simple to win votes. Cameron wanted to replace IDS but IDS refused to move

Completely agree with janey's post.

Mini, it's not as simple as waving some magic wand and taxing the rich until their pips squeak.

Renumeration at the top is often made up of shares and bonuses. Often the salary itself can be in comparison much lower.

And if we want to compete in the world economy then our tax rates have to be in line with our competitors. The 50% rate put us at odds with our main competitors and far above aspiring competitors, especially in the far east.

If we wanted to compete in the world economy perhaps we should have invested in our manufacturing base, rather than successive Tory governments starving and dismantling it.

We've got precious little to compete with now. Except for our financial services sector. Who don't appear to have been driven away by our apparent "uncompetitiveness" at all. Sadly.

Remuneration at the top is often made up of shares and bonuses

I agree, did you know that under Neo-liberalism, in the states as example, wages are taxed, purchasing is taxed, property is taxed, these taxes of course are paid by everyone, Shares and income from shares is not taxed!!! ordinary workers do not hold shares, so that is a system that means that the top 10% actually pay less tax than workers in many cases because much of their property is in shares. Is that fair?

How does that impact upon us? you might think it doesn't but it does.

I agree about the global economy conundrum actually.

However have you stopped to think about imperialism and how American and UK foreign policy sits in opposition to the actual interests of the state itself? So the state funds wars (one example) we are taxed to pay for this and the state borrows money to pay for it, it borrows from the banks (gilts/interest) it then uses tax payer money (and the debt created/which we pay back) to impose neo-liberalised free market mechanisms on other countries (look at south America, Chille, Iraq, etc) the conditions created in these countries is that of a Disney world for corporations (no child labour laws, starvation wages, little protection of the environment etc,,,) we are co-opted to support this through the narrative of democratisation. Now if you consider when this phenomena really took off, (1980's) then compare this to the stats on falling wages in the west/north & rising government debt....there is ONLY ONE CONCLUSION that is that the globalisation of neo-liberal economics is actually destabilising ALL states, impoverishing all working peoples (china puts down more riots now than ever before) and is driving government debt.

China has achieved huge gains by adopted elements of capitalism, ditto India and improved the position of women and children in the process.

As for UK salaries and shares, many people who earn a lot cannot be given shares as their businesses do not work like that. The trend has been to give more salary and less bonus because of pressure about bonuses but all that means is that people are much more expensive to hire and so fewer have jobs. If people earn £50k and only £100k more if they make huge profits on the shares they pick for your clients they are fairly easy to hire and fire. If we come down against bonuses then people need a higher base salary so there are fewer jobs (and they are less incentivised to do well) in those types of jobs.

We only have to look ato North Korea to see how much worse communism does than capitalism.

Are you obsesses with communism Xenia?

Their salaries will still be pretty hefty even without the shares etc.

At the end of the day, the companies chose to keep wages for the average joe low. Which then requires subsidy by the state via tax credits. It's farcical. While those at the top continue to get high salaries, nice pensions plus bonuses on top.

YY Iggly, it's a choice and what is worse, it's a choice that companies make with the full backing of our state.