The U.K. in 2019 -

Grandad1943
The increase in GDP has been in 'soft' industries such as banking and IT skills and not in manufacturing and heavy industry which was in decline during the Thatcher years and her drive to turn UK into a service provider. Much of the manual work in UK contributes little to GDP this being assembly work, warehousing. We do little heavy manfacturing as this is outsourced.
We are fed the idea of needing immigration which for some sectors maybe we do, but since 2004 when free movement really took off employers have drastically cut training budgets, apprenticeships and succession training has all but gone because they can import someone already trained at a lower salary, pushing our less academic youngsters into unskilled and possibly gig economy jobs. Why are employers panicking now? Because their trained, cheap employee stream may dry and they will have to start training and apprenticeship schemes again incurring a cut in profits.
I am all for inviting people to work here for jobs where the need is immediate and cannot be filled internally.
For every person who comes here we have to find accommdation, school places, room on the roads, doctors appointments,additional water, sewage and waste capacity, electricity, gas etc. etc.

OK I will have a look at reports relating to immigration and housing shortage, although this thread is simply about poverty and bad housing.

Now the Victorians understood it as did governments in the 30s and post war, that bad housing is the responsibility of government, by various measures such as legislation, investment and social housing. Immigration has never been linked to poverty, and the impact poverty has on the individual such as bad housing.

Another report by Bristol University which looked at three activities or items deemed necessary for life in the U.K. in 2014 showed that the proportion of households lacking these necessities had risen to 33%.

What are the three "activities or items" mentioned here, please?

I should have said to make it clear that immigration has never been linked to overall poverty. There is plenty of reports to link immigrant poverty.

baggs they are

Adequate food
Adequate clothing
Adequate warm and damp free housing.

There are of course other indicators and these include
Financial security
Inadequate household goods
Poorer health
Higher mortality

People were asked what they thought was necessary to have a reasonable living standard. It was interesting to read. They were certainly not setting the bar too high. Top of the list with over 90% considering the following are necessities
Heating to warm living areas.
Damp free homes
2 meals a day
For children
Warm winter coat
Daily fresh fruit and vegetables
New, properly fitted shoes

Beyond this social activities were also considered important

Visiting relatives/ friends in hospital
Celebrating special occasions
A hobby or leisure activity.
For children
A garden to outdoor safe space to play in
Children’s clubs/activities
Ability to afford school trips

Not a lot to ask is it?

The inability of councils to use the money they made from council house sales curtailed the number being built. There is no longer a movement to abolish unsafe and slum housing. Link this with the rise of the private landlord, looking for the biggest return on his investment and you have high rents, high levels of eviction and families in B&B accommodation. I wonder as well if anyone has ever looked at the figures for the amount councils made from renting out houses? It seems to me that this along with the cuts to council funding is the reason for the poor infrastructure now found in many places. It may, as well, be a long and drawn out scheme from the Tory party to make sure that councils (who quite frequently are not Tory) steadily lose powers.

George Osborne

“ I don’t know why you keep banging on about social housing. All they do is create Labour voters”

I am struggling to find evidence that immigration is directly related to housing shortage.

I have found one report by Mass Observatory Oxford University which states that at best research simply can’t find a firm conclusion. So that won’t do.

If anyone has evidence to backup the claim that immigration has a link to housing shortage.

I think that the sell off of social housing was another major Tory blooper.
Those who aspired to own their own homes used to move out leaving the house for another needy tenant. Now these houses are unavailable or are bought by property speculators who charge exhorbitant rents. The value of the house is always suppressed as a 'a former LA' property and often in estates of 'mixed' tenancies.
We seem to have had a few decades of 'if it works, lets wreck it'. With a number of social initiatives.

WW2
If you have a pint bottle of milk and then try to pour another half pint in you surely have problems, the same follows with immigration. There has always been a degree of immgration which has becoming gradually greater than emigration and this was accomodated for due to the slow increase. However, Since 2004 UK has experienced a rapid increase in population. Much of the immigration has been within the semi skilled and labourer workers that occupy the lower end of the housing market. There are of course highly skilled immigrants in high class areas, but for many they have relocated to areas of low skill, former mining and mill towns working in the low and semi skilled, low paid jobs that are available there and this compounds the housing pressures within these areas.

joelsnan you would think so wouldn’t you?

But until I can find evidence that this is the case, I’m loath to make the connection, as it is such a contentious issue leading to some very unpleasant comments on social media and action in wider society.

I have no intention of identifying a group of people in order to explain a social ill, that lets both the racketeering landlords and government off the hook.

On so many fronts we have disposed of the baby along with the bath water.

What skills do we have left? It's embarrassing to observe centuries old crafts being kept alive in other countries while so many of our young spend their working lives shovelling fries into polystyrene boxes or cold-calling uninterested customers.

Our housing situation will take yet another downward turn when the current crop of cheaply thrown up homes reveal their many shortcomings. And the hapless people who live in them, many right on busy traffic junctions and former landfill sites, will also develop serious health problems. Meanwhile, those at the top of the building firms grab obscene, multi-million pound bonuses.

We seem to have lost self respect somewhere along the line and have learned to equate cheap with good in all things.

Sorry, rant of despair over now!

"Teachers are reporting worsening signs of child poverty in our classrooms.
Children are arriving at school, tired, hungry, angry and confused."

Nothing of course to do with the breakdown of the traditional 2 parent family. Get real, povery was far far worse in the 50s but parents tried harder

craftyone
Marketing to the gullible often results in the most expensive phone contract at the detriment of rent. Acrylic nails more important than a meal and caterpillar eyebrows more important than clothes.The latest trainers rather than school shoes.
Is our generation to blame by allowing some of our children to have a sense of entitlement which they do not always show to their children?

As a child I lived in a well-maintained council house with complete security. The right-to-buy programmes bought popularity for the government at the expense of local councils, who could not replace theit stock.
The next step was for these houses to be sold on under buy-to-let schemes, often putting them into the hands of speculators with no interest in their tenants.

This might explain (housing)https://www.migrationwatchuk.org/key-topics/housing

petra thank you for the link, I shall read their web page with interest.

However I do have sone reservations as I understand that migration watch was formed specifically in order to argue against immigration, and consistently argues to restrict immigration.

Of course nothing wrong with a type of lobby group pushing its ideology, but I really would prefer more academically produced evidence as it is generally unbiased and more scientifically produced.

An example of what seems an attractive explanation for the housing crises. But if you dig just below the surface it is easy to show how incorrect the assumptions in the statement are.

fullfact.org/immigration/new-house-every-four-minutes-due-immigration/

Analysis on the inconclusive evidence about house prices and immigration.

fullfact.org/immigration/have-house-prices-risen-because-immigrants/

Whitewavemark2 thanks for starting this discussion. There are some horribly judgemental and ill informed comments here. This country has always had its share of 'feckless' parents and it always will. However, the austerity approach has done nothing to address the child poverty issues that go hand in hand with neglect.
The closure of Sure Start centres, services for substance misusers, people with mental health problems, the probation/police/social work/medical services all contribute to the child neglect.
We are a wealthy country. We should invest in our children and work with vulnerable parents. The comment up thread that suggests asian mothers who are 'kept indoors and don't learn English' therefore contribute nothing to society is both shocking and inaccurate. I've met a number of women who would fit that category. Their contribution includes children who grew up and became doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, bus drivers, physiotherapists and so on.

WW2
So, based in the fact that we are building more houses and demolishing fewer, there are more people than houses available. What can be the cause?
Whilst I do feel private rentals are often too high, I also feel that the government have a lot to answer for. Until recently those receiving benefits had their rent paid directly from DSS (or whatever name) to their landlord, this ensured that these folk at least maintained a roof over their heads. Now the money goes to the recipient who, unless very frugal and astute might consider something else is more important to spend the rent money on. If the money wasnt there the tempation wouldnt be there either.
We seriously need money management lessons for our youth, for so long so many (not all I emphasise), have received just about everything they desire, their parents going into debt to shower them with their desires and unfortunately when they reach adulthood and try to go it alone they fail because they have no money sense or work ethic.

There are children living in poverty , but I heard today teachers are saying some children come to school not having eaten for two days , surely not

Is this a Tory-bashing thread? I read the first two posts and decided it as.

I am no fan of the Conservatives after selling out regarding Brexit, which Labour has done as well. Both our main political parties are a disgrace and I do hope the OP doesn't imagine a new party in power (like Labour, perchance?) is going to transform the country into some sort of socialist Utopia.

Most have us have lived under Labour governments and surprise, surprise, there have been no long lasting changes in the last few decades.

We just swing back and forth between two parties with REAL problems not being tackled or solved, despite the rhetoric.

Dare I say, bring on the Brexit Party, if only to shake up the pathetic punch in Westminster, both left and right, who are an utter disgrace.

Anniebach
I have said for a while now that either a percentage or the whole amount of child support benefit should be redirected to providing all school children with free school meals. Two nutritious meals. This would at least ensure that the money is spent where it is intended...on the children.
I really cannot understand in this day and age that we have hungry children. There were many poor families in 50's and probably before, my family being one of them but I never went dirty or hungry nor were most in my village. My husband was eldest of seven brought up by a deserted mother, they were so poor but they all were clean and well fed and incidentally all went into sucessful careers. Cheap cuts and plenty of bread and no foodbanks. Is it true poverty or inability to manage families and money?