Poverty Figures - Disgraceful

sgthowie Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 11:15:20 PM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

What nobody has appeared to have picked up on today was the shocking rise in people living in poverty in the UK. 

In 2006/7 300,000 more pensioners and 100,000 more children are official classed as living in poverty.  As ever, the share of the income received by the top 10% keeps growing and the bottom 10% keeps falling making the gap bigger than at any time during the Thatcher period.


Now the usual moans will come from New Labourites - what about tax credits, minimum wage, child benefit rises etc.  Of course progress has been made but it has been limited and has not made the UK more equal. 

By sticking to a policy of refusing to tax the wealthy and large corporations more we are heading towards levels of inequality in the US & Hong Kong rather than doing as well or better than Scandinavia. A Compass thinker recently suggested a policy of 60% tax on income over 80,000 pounds and 70% tax on income over 150,000 pounds to pay for raising the personal allowance to 15,000 a year.  A vote winner if you ask me.  Will New Labour entertain it?  Will they Nelly.  I just wish they had the bottle to admit that the growing gap between rich and poor they simply don't care about no more. 






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Poverty Figures - Disgraceful | 5 comments (5 topical)

Re: Poverty Figures - Disgraceful (#1)

by madasafish on Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 10:55:53 AM GMT

I am afraid it's going to get a lot worse.
A recession, rising food and energy bills and more unemployment.

We do need more social housing and now is the time to build them on the cheap as building firms are desperate to sell houses and are laying off staff.

Time for a major program.. Makes economic and human and social sense.

The major problem is the state of Government finances.


Re: Poverty Figures - Disgraceful (#2)

by jkitleft on Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 05:47:40 PM GMT

We need to up the minimum wage to £7.50 over the course of two years. Over two years we should up the allowances to £10,000. These are not the ramblings of a far-left flunky. This could be a real vote winner. I hope all wings of the party would join me in my disgust at the waiters tips scandal. This should be made illegal, and the number of inspectors making sure that the NMW is being paid should be doubled. Lets roll this into the package to guarantee equal rights for agency workers (and lets try and pressure Brown into beefing up these rights, as well as ensuring these rights begin at day one).


Chile benefit needs to be extended into pregnancy, and upped. Some may complain that people will just waste this money, ironic for the same 'libertarians' who tell us that government should be limited because people know best. But I say-let them. Well, if they do it in the right way. If they want to have massive meals, then I'd support these people being showered in benefits. Why? Because low-weight babies, have lower IQ's, and low-weight babies are prevalent among the poorer, which hinders social mobility.


Another vote winner would be universal childcare. It is the missing plank of the welfare state. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people who can't work because they are worried about where there toddlers will go. Wouldn't this help bring many children out of poverty?



For pensioners, I'm glad that the link between earnings and pensions will be brought back. But, care homes need to be as big a priority as schools and hospitals. The ratio of carers to patients is 1:10. Couldn't we devolve the money to families, that is currently spent on shipping a granny off to an old people's home, on her care. If we chuck in a carer as well, to guarentee the money is being spent well, the ratio of 1:10 could be reversed to several family members +1 carer, to 1 patient.

I also think that, and another vote winner here, that VAT on domestic and petrol fuel should be lifted. The first disproportionately hits pensioners, and fuel poverty will not be helped by giving gas companies the details of poorer families.


Re: Poverty Figures - Disgraceful (#3)

by treborc on Fri Jun 20, 2008 at 08:00:03 AM GMT

But we must get rid of the disabled, we would use gas but it's to expensive.


Re: Poverty Figures - Disgraceful (#4)

by adwilliams134 on Thu Jul 24, 2008 at 03:55:28 PM GMT

It's all relative.  I have been to numerous countries for quite long periods of time. 


To be sure there are poor people in this country but only compared to the 'average' .  There is no poverty in this country.  Where there is impoverished children or spouses in this country it is as a result of drink, drugs or gambling.


If you want to see poverty go to the sub-continent.  You'll see families where both parents and the older children are working seven days a week 12 hours a day.  They are still hungry and they can never improve their lot because they simply do not have the time or the money.  Every waking minute is consumed with acquiring their next meal.   That's poverty.


Re: Poverty Figures - Disgraceful (#5)

by jkitleft on Sat Jul 26, 2008 at 11:42:05 PM GMT

To a certain extent true.

If the median income suddenly shot up to 100k, ane people were earning 59k, they would be said to be in poverty. There would be a few raised eyebrows.

But these figures matter. In Bangladesh, they actually have less inequality than in South Central LA. That's why Compton kids die younger than people living in proper poverty in the subcontinent.

But I don't think it is true that poverty in this country is caused by drinking and drugs. Genuine impoverishment probably. But inequality matters. It is no use saying that even the poorest in our society are better off than many in Africa. Which of course, they are. But inequality, which is often less in countries with geuine impoverishment, is evident when we make shocking comparisons: the life expectancy in Glasgow compared to Gaza, and life expectancy in Compton compared to Bangladesh.


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Poverty Figures - Disgraceful | 5 comments (5 topical)