Just not earmimg enough

Pobby

Just a thought,but looking through the local paper I see so many jobs that are minium wage or just above.I really cannot see how people can survive on this.Imho inflation is running much higher than the government would have us believe.

To rent a very small flat here,which is probally the cheapest place in the south of England ,would set you back £80 to £100 per week.

Add council tax,utilities and so forth your income is quickly eaten up.

It is no surprise that folks are in debt and I think in some cases it is borrowing just to live.

iolanthe07

I'm sure you're right. The official inflation rate is kept artificially low because it does not sufficiently take into account the huge increase in house prices, council tax and utility bills - espcially water here in the south west. Cheap imports of clothes and electronic goods keep the headline figure down, but the reality for people on minimum wage or just above is very different

immoral_angeluk

Completely agree. Between my husband and I we get about £18k a year. We do get tax credits and child benefit on top as we have a little girl (And another on the way) but it's amazing how hard it is to find decent paying jobs around our area (Staffordshire). My DH is currently learning to drive to improve his chances of getting a better paying job. Trouble is, when we starting earning more, we get less tax credits, and so it's a catch 22 as we're going to be stuck in the same position whether we get better paying jobs or not.
The government is completely backwards at the moment.

sanfrancisco

The average wage in this country is 23.4k, but the median (which is far more accurate measure), is 18.9. You are absolutely right Pobby. I don't know how people afford to live. It is the young that are getting crucified as well, as housing is so expensive (buying and renting). I agree with you as well about the Government figures. I think they are complete hokum. I guess the country will jsut get more and more unproductive, as wage demands increase, and companies will go elsewhere.

It really is very depressing and no one seems to care. You might like this article: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922886,00.html

"Tories warn of hard times for the Thatcher generation "

Pobby

sanfrancisco wrote:

The average wage in this country is 23.4k, but the median (which is far more accurate measure), is 18.9. You are absolutely right Pobby. I don't know how people afford to live. It is the young that are getting crucified as well, as housing is so expensive (buying and renting). I agree with you as well about the Government figures. I think they are complete hokum. I guess the country will jsut get more and more unproductive, as wage demands increase, and companies will go elsewhere.

It really is very depressing and no one seems to care. You might like this article: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,,1922886,00.html

"Tories warn of hard times for the Thatcher generation "

Interesting article.I think that Thatcher was perhaps the first pm that really used ``social enginering``.The massive clashes with the unions,mine closures,selling off of council homes to name a few.Clearly her ``economic miracle`` was based on a lot of borrowing,the same as we have now,and in turn this lead to hogh inflation and an econmic downturn.

I fully agree that young folks today are at a tremendous disadvantage.It`s no wonder that we have binge drinking and teen pregnancies.When I was young there was some pressure to succeed but there also was an abundance of jobs to fit all skills and abilities.Greed seemed not to play such a huge part in life as it does today.To think of owning a car or continental holidays when I was young just didn`t come into the equation.I have teens folks in my family and frankly they scare me.18 year old has just borrowed £15k to buy a car``because it is better than my mates car``.20 year ol,earning £9.5k per annum is on her 3rd holiday abroad this year and they kind of think this is normal.

I have little sympathy for those that are in debt through reckless spending.However I have great sympathy for those that are there by misfortune.

What will become of many young folk.All in my family will not be able to move from home.many are close to London and certainly would not afford to rent let alone buy.I recall in the 80s many of my single friends could buy their own properties.Not so now.The real worry for me is this situation will eventually come round and bite us in the bum.

loulouloulou_2

Everything is sooooo expensive now!!

I own a 2 bed flat - in an 'okay' part of where i live in the South of England - to rent the same flat is £665 per month!!! Council tax alone is £ 127 a month!

I was lucky to get on the ladder when i did - my OH is 27, i'm 25, and we were very lucky with our mortgage (although mortgaged up to our eyeballs#!!) but i honestly cannot see how people can do it now!

Pobby

loulouloulou wrote:

Everything is sooooo expensive now!!

I own a 2 bed flat - in an 'okay' part of where i live in the South of England - to rent the same flat is £665 per month!!! Council tax alone is £ 127 a month!

I was lucky to get on the ladder when i did - my OH is 27, i'm 25, and we were very lucky with our mortgage (although mortgaged up to our eyeballs#!!) but i honestly cannot see how people can do it now!

For some that alone would be a months wage!!!!

loulouloulou_2

Exactly!!!

Our mortgage is slightly less than renting - and luckily we have both wages (we both work full time) coming in - but i'd hate to think if we didnt!!!

ZTD

loulouloulou wrote:

Exactly!!!

Our mortgage is slightly less than renting - and luckily we have both wages (we both work full time) coming in - but i'd hate to think if we didnt!!!

Well to be honest, you should be paying a lot less for a mortgage than for renting. This is because you need to put extra money aside for maintenance, and various insurances, such as buildings cover.

You also should be financially "rewarded" for the risk you take with owning your own home, for such things as losing your job and hence losing your house, having a chemical works built next door and losing value - etc.

It sounds like you may have overpaid.

Mrs_Sparkle

ZTD wrote:

Well to be honest, you should be paying a lot less for a mortgage than for renting. This is because you need to put extra money aside for maintenance, and various insurances, such as buildings cover.

You also should be financially "rewarded" for the risk you take with owning your own home, for such things as losing your job and hence losing your house, having a chemical works built next door and losing value - etc.

It sounds like you may have overpaid.

At £1400 a month my mortgage is significantly more than it would be to rent the same property. This is because house prices have increased dramatically in my area (as well as many others) while rent has remained static for some time. My financial reward comes from the equity I'm earning in the house which makes up for the additional monthly expenditure that we suffer now.

lynzpower

At least we have the minimum wage now.

I found an old payslip the other day that showed i was making 1.89 before tax & NI an hour, that was in 1999.

It could be a hell of a lot worse, if the tories had thier way, the min wage wouldnt have ever materialised, and then they also wanted to scrap it up till very recently.