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Post by AvonCalling on May 10, 2024 18:59:13 GMT
Only relevant if you are comfortable not if you are having to visit food banks to feed yourself or your family.
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 10, 2024 19:58:24 GMT
Only relevant if you are comfortable not if you are having to visit food banks to feed yourself or your family. If the UK abandons moral principles for overall economic expediency then the first to feel (further) pain would be exactly those people so be careful what you argue for |
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Post by patman post on May 15, 2024 14:13:20 GMT
I think we need to be far less idealistic about our approach and far more pragmatic. We should do what is in our economic interests as this offers the best outcomes for the most people in our country rather than pushing our ideals onto others or foregoing trade due to our ideals. We are not in an economically good place and we need to lick our wounds and fix this as a priority IMO We are a G7 country, we are in the top decile of real countries for GDP per capita etc etc. Most of the world would love to have our economy as the numbers trying to get here by any means attests. There isn't the slightest excuse to abandon moral principles. Can you honestly say the standard of living hasn't fallen in the UK over the past decade or so?
According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, food and non-alcoholic drink prices are up by 4% on last year. But they are 30% higher than they were in April 2021.
“While the main rate of inflation has come down, essentials like food and energy still cost much more,” the charity posted on X. “Benefit levels are only now catching up with prices and families are still struggling to make up the difference.”
Those immigrants struggling to come here are taken in by the traffickers' and other's hype put out on social media** — Germany and France each receive more asylum applications and settle more refugees than the UK. Generally, Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the Nordic countries, offer higher social benefits for immigrants than for natives.
Visit any of the big four UK flagship supermarket stores and then compare with any usual "centre commercial" supermarkets in the near EU, and it's easy to notice the difference. The extent of choice and quality outstrip what's offered in the UK.
Admittedly, EU countries have their problems and food banks too, but supermarkets wouldn't continue to offer the range and good quality in such abundance in people weren't buying...
** Forums with extensive threads complaining about the luxurious way refugees are housed and treated just add to the rosy false picture would be asylum seekers have of what they'll be entitled to in the UK...
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 18, 2024 11:40:06 GMT
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Post by Zany on May 18, 2024 12:08:00 GMT
And how do real term wages compare to the cost of living? How many young people can afford a house even to rent. |
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 19, 2024 11:35:20 GMT
And how do real term wages compare to the cost of living? How many young people can afford a house even to rent. Zany real term wages are the actual wages adjusted for the cost of living. As the link given put it "In the United Kingdom, real earnings including bonuses refer to changes in average weekly earnings for the whole economy for total pay, in real terms (adjusted for consumer price inflation)." |
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Post by Zany on May 19, 2024 12:30:50 GMT
And how do real term wages compare to the cost of living? How many young people can afford a house even to rent. Zany real term wages are the actual wages adjusted for the cost of living. As the link given put it "In the United Kingdom, real earnings including bonuses refer to changes in average weekly earnings for the whole economy for total pay, in real terms (adjusted for consumer price inflation)."I didn't think the figures include house prices? |
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 19, 2024 13:01:55 GMT
True they use CPI rather than RPI
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Post by patman post on May 19, 2024 16:43:21 GMT
With respect that reads like a politician trying to put the best spin on things either before an election, or before the wheels fall off, or both.
What good is high employment when so many still have to claim benefits, or do two or three jobs to be able to feed and house their families?
Pushing up the minimum wage without helping to increase profitability is pointless because prices rise and staffs are likely reduced.
Out in the real world, the state pension is £221.20 a week. The average rent in the UK is now £1,276 per month.
The UK homeless figures are the highest in the developed world. Then add failings — such as polluted lakes, rivers and water supplies.
Tariffs have increased in importance because the UK's exit from the EU has brought them to the fore...
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 19, 2024 23:25:33 GMT
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Post by Zany on May 20, 2024 7:25:46 GMT
So the growing wealth gap is hiding the reality? |
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 20, 2024 8:30:46 GMT
So the growing wealth gap is hiding the reality? No the reality is that on average it hasn't fallen. But expectations of ever increasing standard of living aren't being delivered. The UK got Brexit instead. |
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Post by Orac on May 20, 2024 10:43:25 GMT
Zany real term wages are the actual wages adjusted for the cost of living. As the link given put it "In the United Kingdom, real earnings including bonuses refer to changes in average weekly earnings for the whole economy for total pay, in real terms (adjusted for consumer price inflation)."I didn't think the figures include house prices? Having somewhere you are allowed to sit down in peace out of the rain has to be just about the primary indicator of standard of living - that is, after access to water, clothing and food. ...and yet its price is just skipped over and ignored. |
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Steve
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Post by Steve on May 20, 2024 12:37:18 GMT
No because it's very complicated to properly include it. You'd also have to include the massive income many people get from inflated house prices via inheritances.
Some people are worse off that they were in 2010, most people are better off an on average everyone is.
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Post by Orac on May 20, 2024 12:52:38 GMT
No because it's very complicated to properly include it. You'd also have to include the massive income many people get from inflated house prices via inheritances. Some people are worse off that they were in 2010, most people are better off an on average everyone is. The increasing pound amounts aren't a compensating advantage for cost of living because at best they could only ever equal out - a house = a house. It's all downhill i'm afraid |
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