Professor Green, living in poverty.
Discussion
98elise said:
Agreed. If your not happy go out and get another job that pays more. It might mean training or starting at the bottom, but its very much possible to make your life better.
If you say that quick enough it sounds easy. What if you already have dependents and/or a mortgage?
What if you live in an area of the UK where salaries are lower than the national average and employment opportunities thin on the ground?
What if you're over 40?
Worse still, what if you're over 50?
What is you have a disability?
My own situation is that I returned to work after a near fatal accident left me with a disability. I live in Cornwall, where wages are well below the national average and my age and physical disability mean I am not exactly an employers dream. As a result, I am self employed doing one of the few jobs my disability allows, earning a bit less than the average postman. (I am able (and often do around 20 hours a week overtime to fund my toy) I could be better off financially by going on benefits but I have no wish to do that. Working isn't just about the salary after all. Despite all the above, I still consider myself lucky as I know there are plenty even worse off than I. I also live somewhere I want to live, as opposed being forced to live somewhere due to a lack of cash. There are lots of people getting by, with little or no chance of really being any better off financially. People who work in the public sector and haven't seen a pay rise in years for a start.
Edited by e30m3Mark on Tuesday 26th September 13:11
TooMany2cvs said:
I know that the starting salary is more than 10% above the legal minimum wage, and the average is 25% above.
I know that people aren't being forced at gunpoint to work as postmen, so are perfectly free to work for other employers if they think they'll be better rewarded in other jobs.
I know that if staff recruitment and retention dropped off seriously enough to be an issue, then the pay and conditions would almost certainly increase, in order to entice more people.
Don't forget the pension benefit for that postman adds a further effective 20+% to those wages.I know that people aren't being forced at gunpoint to work as postmen, so are perfectly free to work for other employers if they think they'll be better rewarded in other jobs.
I know that if staff recruitment and retention dropped off seriously enough to be an issue, then the pay and conditions would almost certainly increase, in order to entice more people.
sidicks said:
TooMany2cvs said:
I know that the starting salary is more than 10% above the legal minimum wage, and the average is 25% above.
I know that people aren't being forced at gunpoint to work as postmen, so are perfectly free to work for other employers if they think they'll be better rewarded in other jobs.
I know that if staff recruitment and retention dropped off seriously enough to be an issue, then the pay and conditions would almost certainly increase, in order to entice more people.
Don't forget the pension benefit for that postman adds a further effective 20+% to those wages.I know that people aren't being forced at gunpoint to work as postmen, so are perfectly free to work for other employers if they think they'll be better rewarded in other jobs.
I know that if staff recruitment and retention dropped off seriously enough to be an issue, then the pay and conditions would almost certainly increase, in order to entice more people.
Pay the electricity bill and feed the kids... or lock it away into a pension black hole never to be seen again
tough choice
e30m3Mark said:
If you say that quick enough it sounds easy.
What if you already have dependents and/or a mortgage?
What if you live in an area of the UK where salaries are lower than the national average and employment opportunities thin on the ground?
You mean where living costs are also lower?What if you already have dependents and/or a mortgage?
What if you live in an area of the UK where salaries are lower than the national average and employment opportunities thin on the ground?
e30m3Mark said:
What if you're over 40?
Worse still, what if you're over 50?
Plenty of government-funded training available.Worse still, what if you're over 50?
e30m3Mark said:
What is you have a disability?
Quite rightly, additional help is provided for those with disabilities.e30m3Mark said:
My own situation is that I returned to work after a near fatal accident left me with a disability. I live in Cornwall, where wages are well below the national average and my age and physical disability mean I am not exactly an employers dream. As a result, I am self employed doing one of the few jobs my disability allows, earning a bit less than the average postman. (I am able (and often do around 20 hours a week overtime to fund my toy) I could be better off financially by going on benefits but I have no wish to do that. Working isn't just about the salary after all. Despite all the above, I still consider myself lucky as I know there are plenty even worse off than I. I also live somewhere I want to live, as opposed being forced to live somewhere due to a lack of cash.
So you do have choices, but your approach is admirable. You deserve the benefits that are available to you, however other people seem to want things handed on a plate. There's only so much money to go around.e30m3Mark said:
There are lots of people getting by, with little or no chance of really being any better off financially. People who work in the public sector and haven't seen a pay rise in years for a start.
Except in the vast majority of cases that's not true at all. And their wages are typically already more than those in the private sector.sidicks said:
desolate said:
Yes, serious.
If my employer was taking the piss out of me, I'd be be giving it back, both barrels.
I think that speaks volume about you.If my employer was taking the piss out of me, I'd be be giving it back, both barrels.
The people I know on low paid jobs seek to better themselves, rather than resort to theft.
You name any profession and 5 mins on google will reveal the bad apples.
egor110 said:
sidicks said:
desolate said:
Yes, serious.
If my employer was taking the piss out of me, I'd be be giving it back, both barrels.
I think that speaks volume about you.If my employer was taking the piss out of me, I'd be be giving it back, both barrels.
The people I know on low paid jobs seek to better themselves, rather than resort to theft.
egor110 said:
You name any profession and 5 mins on google will reveal the bad apples.
Indeed - and making claims about the majority based on the actions of a small minority is stupid!Edited by sidicks on Tuesday 26th September 13:27
sidicks said:
TooMany2cvs said:
I know that the starting salary is more than 10% above the legal minimum wage, and the average is 25% above.
I know that people aren't being forced at gunpoint to work as postmen, so are perfectly free to work for other employers if they think they'll be better rewarded in other jobs.
I know that if staff recruitment and retention dropped off seriously enough to be an issue, then the pay and conditions would almost certainly increase, in order to entice more people.
Don't forget the pension benefit for that postman adds a further effective 20+% to those wages.I know that people aren't being forced at gunpoint to work as postmen, so are perfectly free to work for other employers if they think they'll be better rewarded in other jobs.
I know that if staff recruitment and retention dropped off seriously enough to be an issue, then the pay and conditions would almost certainly increase, in order to entice more people.
Explain how you've come to this 20% increase figure .
SystemParanoia said:
lol..
Pay the electricity bill and feed the kids... or lock it away into a pension black hole never to be seen again
tough choice
Yes, those pension schemes never pay out any money, do they?!Pay the electricity bill and feed the kids... or lock it away into a pension black hole never to be seen again
tough choice
Regardless, I'm talking about the employer contributions, so your comment is even more nonsensical.
Edited by sidicks on Tuesday 26th September 13:33
sidicks said:
SystemParanoia said:
lol..
Pay the electricity bill and feed the kids... or lock it away into a pension black hole never to be seen again
tough choice
Yes, those government pension schemes never pay out any money, do they.Pay the electricity bill and feed the kids... or lock it away into a pension black hole never to be seen again
tough choice
Regardless, I'm talking about the employer contributions, so your comment is even more nonsensical.
egor110 said:
Why do you claim posties are on stealing ?
You name any profession and 5 mins on google will reveal the bad apples.
When asked what I thought about 300 quid a week as a wage I suggested that I might go on strike on christmas and nick stuff.You name any profession and 5 mins on google will reveal the bad apples.
It was a light hearted comment meant to convey the fact that I don't think 300 quid is very much and that I would be an appalling employee for that sort of money in a full time job.
It seems to have stirred up a bit more interest than I thought it would.
We seem to have got sidetracked into Post men and the Royal Mail - which isn't really the point of the thread.
cqueen said:
On the other hand, you've got Millionaires just down the road trying to decide which type of pearlescent paint code they want on their 3rd Aston Martin. How much money does one man need?
I take your point and it does not seem fair but:-The man with the Aston Martin is putting food on the table of the workers at the factory, the dealer where he bought the car from, a hefty sum to the government every time he fills the tank up, plus a fair chunk of the purchase price will have been VAT.
If you could turn the clock back to day one, and give everybody a £10,000 start, within a few months some people will have turned it into a fortune and some will have blown it on the horses, booze and fags.
There is always going to be rich and poor, always has been.
Wacky Racer said:
I take your point and it does not seem fair but:-
The man with the Aston Martin is putting food on the table of the workers at the factory, the dealer where he bought the car from, a hefty sum to the government every time he fills the tank up, plus a fair chunk of the purchase price will have been VAT.
And chances are runs his own company and employs others.The man with the Aston Martin is putting food on the table of the workers at the factory, the dealer where he bought the car from, a hefty sum to the government every time he fills the tank up, plus a fair chunk of the purchase price will have been VAT.
Wacky Racer said:
The man with the Aston Martin is putting food on the table of the workers at the factory, the dealer where he bought the car from, a hefty sum to the government every time he fills the tank up, plus a fair chunk of the purchase price will have been VAT.
I agree, money, or valve swishes around the population, but the system is such that it keeps the vast majority of people as JAM's (as Teresa May said), with only the top few creaming off luxurious wealth. The top should be wealthier than the bottom, but not at such a scale that people at the bottom to middle can't afford to live even a mundane life.
Zoon said:
e30m3Mark said:
Me neither. In fact, I had Dunlop Green Flash so I imagine that's abuse of some sort or other?
You never had Nicks or Gola? Lower end of the poverty spectrum.Amateurish said:
To make a serious point, we should bear in mind that "poverty" is a relative term. So even if you raise everyone's standard of living, the level of poverty in the population will not decrease. Poverty does not equal low standard of living. Poverty is more a measure of income inequality.
I've been getting annoyed at Labour for this very thing - the 'National Living Wage' won't magically lift people out of poverty, it'll just redefine it at a higher, more expensive level.And because people are now being paid more, prices will have to go up to cover that. So everyone will still be in relative poverty except now it's costing everyone more money at the till. Labour seem to think that if you give everyone more money, prices and costs will stay the same and the 'poor' will now suddenly not be poor any more...
Edited by Funk on Tuesday 26th September 13:47
cqueen said:
I agree, money, or valve swishes around the population, but the system is such that it keeps the vast majority of people as JAM's (as Teresa May said), with only the top few creaming off luxurious wealth.
The top should be wealthier than the bottom, but not at such a scale that people at the bottom to middle can't afford to live even a mundane life.
Define 'mundane'. Define 'bottom to middle'.The top should be wealthier than the bottom, but not at such a scale that people at the bottom to middle can't afford to live even a mundane life.
desolate said:
TooMany2cvs said:
No, that little snippet wasn't a strange thing to say, when viewed in the context of the full answer to your question.
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