US Election

The unemployment rate is at 4%. So the countries we'll in the 'full-employment' band.

Of course poor people can get out of poverty themselves, but it becomes very difficult when third level education costs a fortune and they aren't provided with the platform needed by parents and social services. It can be a vicious circle and blaming the individual, rather than the society which creates that individual, is too simplistic.

 

And that puts the Triple Lock pension payments up!

 

I take your point. There has been a lot of price gouging. A progressive government should be looking at that and windfall taxing

But say if wages had risen at the rate they should have done from 2008 and we are all earning an extra 5-10k they would feel about right.

 

The truth is that work is not a route out of poverty. A massive chunk of the benefits bill is the government propping up business and enabling them to pay wages that people cannot live on.

A lot of those in work benefits go straight to landlords especially down south. The answer is to mass build social housing but the current government has no interest in that.

 

Agree 100%, just pointing out the issue isn't people not wanting to work.

 

£90k across two incomes is closer to £6k, although that's assuming you're not doing anything sensible like putting money in a pension plan, share save scheme etc. But in any case the remaining £4k can disappear very quickly, especially if you actually want to do any interesting things with your life during your time off, even more so if you've got one or more kids.

 

You do realise that no matter how hard people work there will always be people at the bottom. We can't have 60m surgeons/actuaries/bankers all earning £100k+

 

I agree you can’t just blame the individual, but there are many opportunities now given to people to get a higher education, bursary’s for expenses, higher grants, lower grade boundaries. But you do have to want it.

 

Think you have missed my point.

 

What about those that don’t have the capacity to attain a ‘level’ of Academia, do they deserve to be poor?

 

Amd that’s before you get the 35 - 70k deposit you’d need.

I’d assumed pensions etc coming off as being part of a ‘reasonable standard of life’.

 

I have a strong dislike of 'punching down'.

.... Young white girls in parts of South Yorkshire face some of the UK's most challenging economic outlooks, particularly when considering educational attainment, career opportunities, and socioeconomic barriers. Research by the Social Mobility Commission and other organizations highlights several trends:

1. Educational Attainment
White Working-Class Girls: White girls from low-income backgrounds in areas like South Yorkshire have lower levels of academic attainment compared to peers in other ethnic and socioeconomic groups. For instance, they often perform less well on GCSEs and A-levels, impacting their eligibility for higher education and apprenticeships.

University Access: White working-class students, especially girls in areas like South Yorkshire, have some of the lowest university enrollment rates in the country. Only about 13% of white students from disadvantaged backgrounds attend university, compared to around 47% of their peers from other ethnicities in similar economic conditions.

2. Economic Mobility and Job Opportunities
Employment Prospects: Economic opportunities in former industrial areas, such as parts of South Yorkshire, tend to be limited. These regions often have fewer high-skilled, high-paying job opportunities. Many local jobs are in sectors like retail or care, which traditionally offer lower wages and less job security.

Wages: Young women from disadvantaged backgrounds in South Yorkshire may earn less over their lifetimes due to limited access to higher education and skilled professions. Women in the region, particularly those who enter the workforce directly after school, often start with lower wages and experience slower wage growth.

3. Broader Socioeconomic Challenges
Health and Wellbeing: Socioeconomic challenges also influence health outcomes, with people in lower-income areas like South Yorkshire facing higher rates of health issues, which can further limit work capacity and economic prospects.

Cultural and Social Mobility Barriers: There can also be cultural and social barriers, including lower expectations around academic achievement and fewer role models pursuing higher education or high-paying careers. This can perpetuate cycles of disadvantage.

These factors combine to create one of the UK's most challenging economic outlooks for young white girls in South Yorkshire, especially if they come from working-class or low-income families.

 

OK let's say everyone "wants it" and gets a degree. Who does the jobs that are currently mimlnimum wage and how much do they get paid?

 

Why do sportsmen get paid more than doctors? Do they deserve to be poorer?

 

You're comparing obscenely rich and rich. Big difference between that and comparing rich and poor.

 

Migrants ;-)

 

I think we still live in a country where people who grow up with little or not much can make something of themselves. I know people who have grown up with nothing some not even completed school now very successful through hard work and business. I know Eastern Europeans where I work who came over here they have saved and saved made sacrafices and got on the property ladder earning alot less than quoted on this thread.

Admittedly with fees going up that'd just been announced a university education has become more expensive but we have some of the best education in the world. Hence why so many Chinese etc come to Sheffield uni. And like said bursaries grants etc are avaliable.

 

Let's assume it's within everyone's power as individuals to do that. That doesn't mean that everyone could do that at the same time. Society is dependent on some people doing undesirable low paid jobs. If everyone has a degree those jobs would just be done by the people deemed to have the worst degrees. There wouldn't suddenly be a society where everyone has made it and is comfortable.

There will always be a low paid element of society propping it up and they shouldn't be abandoned to poverty on the basis of "well they could make something of themselves." As individuals it's true to a degree, but as a collective it's impossible.

 

Taken from the 14th Amendment of the constitution of the united states

"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability."

 

Already been spoken about for weeks. It won't happen. He'll be certified and will be number 47. We can hope and dream as much as we want, but he will be president come January.