@BertieBotts
Since you do have experience of both, can I ask, if you felt genuinely that you were trapped in that existence with ice on the windows, discount section of supermarket and so on and had absolutely no option to change that, none at all, would you not also feel resentful towards people who did have a less fraught existence and even seemed to take it for granted?
I don't think I can ever see myself being in that situation with no way out, as children it was difficult but it was not exactly unusual in the 80s to have single glazing and ice inside windows in winter, although it did not happen in wealthier households. As a younger adult, student, and during my 20s there was always a way out, working more hours, retraining, moving to somewhere cheaper, maybe that is the difference in outlook, unless I lost my lost my faculties an/or both my arms I don't see a situation where there would not be a way out.
In answer to the question I don't think I would be resentful though, it is not their fault if I were to be in that position.
I don't resent higher earners, because I have a better understanding of money as a resource (which makes it less emotional somehow) and it doesn't feel quite so out of reach, but I can see where it comes from, it feels completely unfair and a lottery if you personally feel you have no possible way to get to that level of living/lifestyle, and it's not like you sat there at 16 and decided yeah, I want to be poor. Even if somebody else made a decision to pursue a high earning career, nobody makes a choice to be badly off. (I don't mean someone who is able but chooses not to work much/at all of course).
The thing that I think some of those who have become high or even average earners struggle with is very often low earning and poverty can look like a choice. People choosing to work only 16 hours a week, I know the UC taper can seem a bit steep but almost always (unless childcare kicks in) working more makes one better off, having children early in life negatively impacts career options, many people have more children than they can afford to support, smoking and drinking when you have little money seems insane, buying expensive items (conspicuous consumption) doesn't make sense at any level of income, but even less so when you are struggling to keep the heating on.
Those who are higher earners are usually driven, they can push themselves to work 80 hours a week, or to not drink, not smoke, cook everything from scratch because they see all that as part of the way out. When I was doing my PhD I studied for 30-50 hours a week, I worked full time on top of that. When my husband started his own business he worked 50-60 hours a week at his business and 40 hours a week in a bar to get extra cash to keep things going in the initial stages (16 months). Sometimes the part that people struggle to understand is why when they were in poverty/low income they worked their way out of it, so why doesn't everyone, I can see both sides of that though. I think in some cases the way ambition is stripped from people is tragic.
And in some ways it is unfair - some people have to support their parents in old age whereas others recieve financial support from their parents. That kind of thing is not something you choose. Neither is disability or mental health issues.
Some do, some don't, I never expected life to be fair and perhaps that is the difference, most of the successful people I know have no expectation of fairness, but they are driven so that they don't ever have to try and rely on something being fair.
I think the UK has a real problem with endemic generational poverty and mental health issues and supporting those issues would go a long way.
I agree, but it is really hard to tackle. There is a poverty of aspiration which is endemic in some families, groups or even communities. Children not encouraged to study hard, told not to go to university, told not to apply for top universities, also told not to pursue apprenticeships, to not try to build a career. Those who just seem to stumble through life without making a plan, or who make bad choice after bad choice. We need to both support those who need help better and encourage those who could do better to do so, societal responsibility is a huge part of that, as is personal responsibility.