Living beyond our means, or just poverty?

[realcockney]

Very depressing viewing.

 

what was most depressing was the 46 or 47 year old guy who was dying, who had some lovely kids and that they were quite matter of fact about him going soon, was that you could see a pattern, smoking, lack of excercise bad diet etc etc it even showed his kids eating pizza and chips??? thats not poverty it lack of education and common sense.

[davyboy]

one quote, in I think the DM or i newspaper, from a large lady: vegetables are too dear.

[gomgeg]

Very depressing viewing.

Extremely depressing, the fact that people are dying young due to preventable reasons, too fat, drugs, alcohol and smoking. And it's ironic that these mostly apply to the people said to be living in poverty.

According to posters on here after working for 50 years we're living in poverty,

But manage to live what's said to be a fairly healthy lifestyle.

The problem is that the benefit dependant (not the disabled) have too much time on their hands and no incentives to get off their usually fat backsides.

[TimmyR]

Are we heading for yet another financial crisis?

 

personally I think we are heading for something a lot worse than that. We're not just gonna lose a few quid off our house values but we can all just keep pretending everything will be ok and go and do some sunbathing.

[Cyclone]

We can see in a few posts above the idea of the undeserving poor coming up again. Poverty is persistently linked with poor diet and lifestyle, reduced lifespan, poor educational achievement. Yet somehow the implication is being made that it's the fault of the people that are poor, rather than the effect of being poor on those people.

[El Cid]

We can see in a few posts above the idea of the undeserving poor coming up again. Poverty is persistently linked with poor diet and lifestyle, reduced lifespan, poor educational achievement. Yet somehow the implication is being made that it's the fault of the people that are poor, rather than the effect of being poor on those people.

 

We are a rich country; but has there always been a small number of people at the bottom that struggle with finances?

Or is there something which is making matters worse? Most people will help someone in real need.

[Anna B]

We are a rich country; but has there always been a small number of people at the bottom that struggle with finances?

Or is there something which is making matters worse? Most people will help someone in real need.

 

Austerity has had a bigger impact on the poor than any other demographic. Those with a safety net will not have felt its effect as much as those living hand to mouth.

[realcockney]

Austerity has had a bigger impact on the poor than any other demographic. Those with a safety net will not have felt its effect as much as those living hand to mouth.

 

Only if they haven't adjusted their lifestyles and cut their cloth etc etc, the safety net is far too big and creates problems rather than decreases them? while ever people think someone is there to catch them they will always fail!

"hand to mouth" dont make me laugh, go to India or other real poverty countries thats real hand to mouth.

[tlangdon12]

Poverty is persistently linked with poor diet and lifestyle, reduced lifespan, poor educational achievement.

 

I would say that Poverty in a rich country like the UK is solely caused by poor education, and the effects are poor diet/health problems. Poverty becomes self-perpetuating because many of the poorly educated don't expect their children to excel, don't support their education or their teachers, or value education in any way.

[Anna B]

Only if they haven't adjusted their lifestyles and cut their cloth etc etc, the safety net is far too big and creates problems rather than decreases them? while ever people think someone is there to catch them they will always fail!

"hand to mouth" dont make me laugh, go to India or other real poverty countries thats real hand to mouth.

 

You fail to take into account that many of the poorest have no more cloth to cut, they live perpetually cutting costs wherever possible and by regularly having to rob Peter to pay Paul, having to do without one essential to pay for another.

 

Comparing here with India is like comparing chalk with cheese, but if you think hunger is unknown in this country, or living on the streets, think again.

 

However I don't begrudge sending aid to India even though it has a Space programme, is a Nuclear power and has the third largest number of Billionaires in the world.

It's a pity you resent helping poor people here at home.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Anna B