Pensioner poverty

According to the BBC the Bank of England and other forecasters expect the cost of living to keep rising until April and then stay high all through 2022. They say this isn't a blip it's a trend.

I remember Thérèse Coffey explaining that the triple lock promise was being broken as wage rises were 'artificially high' and that this was “not a real-life basis” for making a decision, given that wage inflation has been boosted by the many thousands of workers coming off the furlough scheme and returning to the payroll, which she called a “statistical anomaly”.

We are now learning that wages continue to rise and that shortage of candidates means starting salaries are rising at a the fastest rate in 24 years. There is definitely a pattern forming that would suggest Coffrey was wrong and wage rises weren't artificially high.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58834559

Prices up. Pensions down. The poorest will get poorer.

GagaJo

They can't afford to spend on the country AND pay for all the bungs to their mates.

I'm worried about working post 60. I get no pension until 67.

Won’t you be eligible to draw your teaching pension at 55y GagaJo? That what my friend did. Plus a little private tuition saw her through nicely until she collected her state pension at 64y.

Alexei Sayle :

"Austerity is the idea that the 2008 financial crash was caused by Wolverhampton having too many libraries."

I suspect it might get worse with emerging generations because of changes to family allowance/child benefit. One of my friends had no idea her NI contributions weren't being paid.

You aren’t reading the posts.

It is now accepted that austerity was not and never needed. It was a political choice that even Osborne and Cameron now publicly recognise.

MaizieD

Lincslass

Think I remember the austerity drive was EU led
www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162176

The austerity drive within the eurozone was driven by the dominance of Germanic economic ideology, which demanded 'balanced' budgets and cuts in state spending.

As the UK was not in the eurozone it was at liberty to run its economy in whatever way it pleased. The German model appealed to the tories because it enabled them to justify huge cuts in state spending, to 'shrink the state', which has always been a tory objective from Thatcher onwards.

However, there are multiple economic theories about managing national economies; there is nothing particularly 'correct' about the 'austerity' model. It did, in fact, delay the UK's recovery from the depression caused by the Global financial Crisis. The economy was showing good signs of recovery prior to 201o when the Conservative/LibDem coalition came to power. This has been acknowledged by the IMF (just in case you think I'm making it up).

The most effective way to recover from a depression is for governments to spend in order to keep money circulating in the day to day economy and so stimulate business growth. This was demonstrated in the US in the 1930s when Roosevelt's 'New Deal' programme of government investment helped the US to recover faster from the 'Great Depression' than did other western countries. In the UK postwar recovery was similarly helped by ambitious government spending, as well as the US loan, particularly on the newly established NHS, infrastructure and house building programmes. Not such a good recovery as we also squandered money on trying to retain the Empire ..

We are in for another bout of ideology driven austerity, swingeing cuts to day to day public spending (which the government hopes will be masked by 'levelling up' money) all in the name of 'paying back' the money 'borrowed' to tide us over the covid crisis. Money that was, in fact, 'created' by the Bank of England and which we owe to no-one.

Thank you for the explanation, this thickie wasn’t quite sure, but better than the “sigh”.

Ha! Great minds Lincslass

I was living in Germany at one point and saw for myself riots

Plenty of evidence so enough of the sighing

www.scotsman.com/news/world/violent-anti-austerity-riots-break-out-germany-1509870

Tired of this. misinformation. The whole of Europe went through austerity. That was not the fault of the Conservatives in the UK.

Plenty of protests all over Europe. Google and learn

www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162176

GillT57

Lincslass

Think I remember the austerity drive was EU led
www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162176

sigh

Why the sigh, was it not, seeing as the article gives details. Or are the BBC making it up?

Inflation highest for a decade at 4.2% and this before the fuel energy rises.

Gill T , if you read my comment I said some not all the younger generation. I have not fell for the politics of division. I know exactly how politicians love to divide and rule, but sadly I have encountered younger folks who think all pensioners are rolling in dough and bitter at the fact they still cannot afford to leave home. I really feel for young folks as there seems to be no answer as to how they ever get a place of their own. Rents where I live are unbelievable. The Pandemic meant everyone wanted to move out of the cities and into rural areas, hence driving up prices further.

GagaJo

They can't afford to spend on the country AND pay for all the bungs to their mates.

I'm worried about working post 60. I get no pension until 67.

The country can afford it, GagaJo. It can come from the same source as all the money the corrupt government has handed to their mates, donors and relatives. It's political will that's stopping them.

They can't connect the dots well enough to see that paying pensioners their dues would be good for the economy...

Lincslass, having divorced, remarried - and taken several years off work, bringing up children, I somehow managed to have acquired two different NI numbers. By chance, an employer found out. I may have lost all my earlier pension contributions otherwise!

Germanshepherdsmum, where have you been? It's very old news that austerity wasn't needed:

www.tuc.org.uk/blogs/chancellor-finally-admits-austerity-was-political-choice

It's completely unacceptable, in a rich country, to have elderly people living in poverty. Those who vote for it should hang their heads in shame!

I can't think of a worse stage in life to be worrying about keeping warm, comfortable and well fed - can you?

They can't afford to spend on the country AND pay for all the bungs to their mates.

I'm worried about working post 60. I get no pension until 67.

Lincslass

Think I remember the austerity drive was EU led
www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162176

The austerity drive within the eurozone was driven by the dominance of Germanic economic ideology, which demanded 'balanced' budgets and cuts in state spending.

As the UK was not in the eurozone it was at liberty to run its economy in whatever way it pleased. The German model appealed to the tories because it enabled them to justify huge cuts in state spending, to 'shrink the state', which has always been a tory objective from Thatcher onwards.

However, there are multiple economic theories about managing national economies; there is nothing particularly 'correct' about the 'austerity' model. It did, in fact, delay the UK's recovery from the depression caused by the Global financial Crisis. The economy was showing good signs of recovery prior to 201o when the Conservative/LibDem coalition came to power. This has been acknowledged by the IMF (just in case you think I'm making it up).

The most effective way to recover from a depression is for governments to spend in order to keep money circulating in the day to day economy and so stimulate business growth. This was demonstrated in the US in the 1930s when Roosevelt's 'New Deal' programme of government investment helped the US to recover faster from the 'Great Depression' than did other western countries. In the UK postwar recovery was similarly helped by ambitious government spending, as well as the US loan, particularly on the newly established NHS, infrastructure and house building programmes. Not such a good recovery as we also squandered money on trying to retain the Empire ..

We are in for another bout of ideology driven austerity, swingeing cuts to day to day public spending (which the government hopes will be masked by 'levelling up' money) all in the name of 'paying back' the money 'borrowed' to tide us over the covid crisis. Money that was, in fact, 'created' by the Bank of England and which we owe to no-one.

GillT57

Lincslass

Think I remember the austerity drive was EU led
www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162176

sigh

another sigh here,

It seems to be in the Governments interest to pit generations against each other. Otherwise why raise N.I. instead of Income Tax.
If they had kept the triple lock and raised income tax, we would all have been able to contribute.
The triple lock would have been raising the State pension for future generations, and richer pensioners would have paid more in tax.

Germanshepherdsmum

Sorry wwm I know more than you might think but the statement you made doesn’t wash.

As you wish.

I wish the government would do more to help poorer pensioners. I have a pension from work but many couldn't afford to pay into one.
I don't think pension credit is enough and if the triple lock goes then some people will suffer and old age isn't kind.

Sorry wwm I know more than you might think but the statement you made doesn’t wash.

Lincslass

Think I remember the austerity drive was EU led
www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162176

sigh

Pepper59

Yet to hear some, not all of the younger generation, all us pensioners are rolling in money, having five holidays a year and living in huge houses- I wish!

Please don't blame the younger generation, don't fall for the politics of division. Statistics show that the majority of Tory voters were over 70 so it is incorrect to blame youngsters.

Whitewavemark2

The Tories promised that it would remain in place until 2024.

They also promised to maintain the percentage spend on Overseas Aid. Anyone seeing a pattern here?