Recession or no recession - what's it like in your house?

[alchresearch]

Some interesting figures were read out on the local radio last night.

 

In case you're not aware there was a big Titanic festival in Liverpool last weekend which some giant puppets roaming the town.

 

http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/news/details.aspx?id=214985

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-17798401

 

It cost £1.5 million to stage.

 

900,000 visitors came to the city and spent £12 million.

 

One shop took £20,000 extra over the three days than it normally would.

 

I don't think this "recession" is anywhere near as bad as the media portray, and if it is, is more of a technical recession which is not really affecting as many as is made out.

 

Yes, fuel is going forever up, but that's always been the case.

[Anna B]

I've been reading about foodbanks, and I find it really worrying that families say they have to use them to feed their children. I understand why a single person on basic benefits (£56.25 a week for a single person under 25) or a street homeless person would need this kind of help. But the amount of benefits that families with children and the over 65s get, seem pretty reasonable. I think we need to be informed about incomes before we can have a reasonable debate about levels of poverty.

 

A family with children on benefits and in rented accommodation in this area, will normally have all the rent covered by housing benefit. Council tax will also be covered, and the children will get free school meals. A single parent with two school age children will get around £256 on top of those housing costs. A pensioner couple, again with rent and council tax covered by benefits, will get £241 a week on top of housing costs if they are on full pension credit.

 

The weekly amounts I've picked up from the DWP website are, £71 ESA; £65 each dependent child (£130 for two); £22.50 lone parent supplement; £33.70 child benefit for two children.

 

£241.65 pensioner couple on Pension Credit.

 

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/benefitrates2012.pdf

 

I think part of the problem is that not everyone is starting from the same place. Some might have debts that they have to repay, or mortgage / part of rent not covered by housing benefit etc. Some might even be trying to save for a household essential like a new vacuum cleaner or launderette costs.

Even bus fares can add a hefty whack.

 

I know DHSS is supposed to give emergency loans, but they can take an age to come through, if at all.

[Grenoside123]

Not too much of a change in our house other that the cost getting too and from work being a bit of a drain on the pub funds! so long as we both keep our jobs we should be fine.

Fingers crossed.

[Ms Macbeth]

I think part of the problem is that not everyone is starting from the same place. Some might have debts that they have to repay, or mortgage / part of rent not covered by housing benefit etc. Some might even be trying to save for a household essential like a new vacuum cleaner or launderette costs.

Even bus fares can add a hefty whack.

 

I know DHSS is supposed to give emergency loans, but they can take an age to come through, if at all.

 

I get that, and probably the most at risk are those who have worked, and have had a reasonable income then lost their job or had their hours cut. That applies especially to people with mortgages, as they are not looked after nearly as well in terms of housing benefit as they would be in rented accommodation.

 

But there are agencies that can organise reductions in debt payments for people who have seen their incomes reduced. If you take them out of the equation, the problem isn't only family income, its also spending choices and priorities.

 

Most parents could afford to heat and light their homes and feed and clothe 2 children on £250 a week, if they had no rent or council tax to pay. IMO many working parents would be happy if they had that left over after paying for housing and travel to work.

[Anna B]

I get that, and probably the most at risk are those who have worked, and have had a reasonable income then lost their job or had their hours cut. That applies especially to people with mortgages, as they are not looked after nearly as well in terms of housing benefit as they would be in rented accommodation.

 

But there are agencies that can organise reductions in debt payments for people who have seen their incomes reduced. If you take them out of the equation, the problem isn't only family income, its also spending choices and priorities.

 

Most parents could afford to heat and light their homes and feed and clothe 2 children on £250 a week, if they had no rent or council tax to pay. IMO many working parents would be happy if they had that left over after paying for housing and travel to work.

 

Agreed.

 

Perhaps the ones struggling the most are those with big houses trying to keep up the mortgage, school fees, feed the pony, etc.

 

I'm not having a go - it must be heartbreaking trying to hang on to all the things you've worked for, hoping that something will turn up before you lose the lot.

 

It's a personal tragedy no matter which end of the social scale you're at.

[TeaFan]

Agreed.

 

Perhaps the ones struggling the most are those with big houses trying to keep up the mortgage, school fees, feed the pony, etc.

 

I'm not having a go - it must be heartbreaking trying to hang on to all the things you've worked for, hoping that something will turn up before you lose the lot.

 

It's a personal tragedy no matter which end of the social scale you're at.

 

Bonfire of the Vanities should be compulsory reading in schools. If they could read...

[Cyclone]

Agreed.

 

Perhaps the ones struggling the most are those with big houses trying to keep up the mortgage, school fees, feed the pony, etc.

 

I'm not having a go - it must be heartbreaking trying to hang on to all the things you've worked for, hoping that something will turn up before you lose the lot.

 

It's a personal tragedy no matter which end of the social scale you're at.

 

Worked for, but don't actually own... Surely it's easy enough for a family in that situation to cut back, down size the house to one they can afford, sell the pony and use state schools. Cutting back on luxuries must be easier than cutting back on essentials for a family that wasn't already affluent and suffers a redundancy. It's hard to feel sympathy for the situation you describe.

[tinfoilhat]

Agreed.

 

Perhaps the ones struggling the most are those with big houses trying to keep up the mortgage, school fees, feed the pony, etc.

 

I'm not having a go - it must be heartbreaking trying to hang on to all the things you've worked for, hoping that something will turn up before you lose the lot.

 

It's a personal tragedy no matter which end of the social scale you're at.

 

Actually I read an article on the been and that's pretty much on the money. People have been mortgaged up to the hilt, got fewer hours or loans that are tied to the house etc. It's easy to say "cut back" but they are obligated to pay back stuff like that, can't sell the house and for what ever reason funds are lower you are in trouble and the social aren't going to help out.

 

I'd argue there are more working people using food banks than those on benefits.

[medusa]

I get that, and probably the most at risk are those who have worked, and have had a reasonable income then lost their job or had their hours cut. That applies especially to people with mortgages, as they are not looked after nearly as well in terms of housing benefit as they would be in rented accommodation.

 

But there are agencies that can organise reductions in debt payments for people who have seen their incomes reduced. If you take them out of the equation, the problem isn't only family income, its also spending choices and priorities.

 

Most parents could afford to heat and light their homes and feed and clothe 2 children on £250 a week, if they had no rent or council tax to pay. IMO many working parents would be happy if they had that left over after paying for housing and travel to work.

 

I don't think that it's just mortgages and poor choices. There are a whole load of lenders that even with the assistance of places like the CCCS will continue to threaten (despite the Consumer Credit Act), cajole and pressure people to continue paying at their own schedule, and there are lots of very appealing looking companies who will harness you to an extra loan or take huge amounts of fees from the amount you pay off so making the quagmire ever harder to escape.

 

If you start off with little then you're used to economising. If you start off with a huge mortgage, secured car loan, credit cards, student loans and a few things bought on credit and you're used to being able to buy what you want without planning then just stopping the over the top purchases doesn't solve the problem.

 

There are plenty of things that don't let you out of a contract too, from mobile phone providers to gym memberships, so when you enter a situation of sudden poverty there are a lot of calls on the incoming money beyond the basics and it can be very hard sometimes to ascertain exactly what compromises an 'essential cost' when you are trying to save hundreds of pounds a month to make ends meet.

 

Add on to that the delay in getting benefits processed and the sometimes lengthy period between being offered a job and getting your first pay- in my OH's recent case it was 8 weeks between offer and starting, during which time his JSA ran out and we didn't qualify for anything else because my private pension gives me £20 a month too much for us to qualify for any other help at all, and then another 4 weeks before he received any pay at all, and even that was only 2 weeks' pay. We had far worse hardship during those 12 weeks than we did during the time that he was on benefits.

 

We didn't need a food bank, but that was because of two things. The first being my private pension gave me just enough to be able to make ends meet as long as we didn't buy anything voluntarily and thought about every penny we had no choice but to buy, and the second was that my kitchen has a really good store cupboard so we could have a boring but filling meal which was just from stored basics.

[Cyclone]

I don't think that it's just mortgages and poor choices. There are a whole load of lenders that even with the assistance of places like the CCCS will continue to threaten (despite the Consumer Credit Act), cajole and pressure people to continue paying at their own schedule, and there are lots of very appealing looking companies who will harness you to an extra loan or take huge amounts of fees from the amount you pay off so making the quagmire ever harder to escape.

 

If you start off with little then you're used to economising. If you start off with a huge mortgage, secured car loan, credit cards, student loans and a few things bought on credit and you're used to being able to buy what you want without planning then just stopping the over the top purchases doesn't solve the problem.

True, but surely the 'fault' here lies with the person who buys things without planning and uses so much credit without thinking about the potential down sides...

 

There are plenty of things that don't let you out of a contract too, from mobile phone providers to gym memberships, so when you enter a situation of sudden poverty there are a lot of calls on the incoming money beyond the basics and it can be very hard sometimes to ascertain exactly what compromises an 'essential cost' when you are trying to save hundreds of pounds a month to make ends meet.

 

Add on to that the delay in getting benefits processed and the sometimes lengthy period between being offered a job and getting your first pay- in my OH's recent case it was 8 weeks between offer and starting, during which time his JSA ran out and we didn't qualify for anything else because my private pension gives me £20 a month too much for us to qualify for any other help at all, and then another 4 weeks before he received any pay at all, and even that was only 2 weeks' pay. We had far worse hardship during those 12 weeks than we did during the time that he was on benefits.

That sounds difficult, are there no provisions to help people through the transition from benefits to work?