Relative Poverty in the UK [Also, watch 'Poor Kids' on iPlayer]
 

How do you feel about poverty in the UK? How would you suggest combating it? Is it a real problem ot people not helping themselves?

I'm torn between two responses. One, is simple - more money. The second, is a method that sounds good on paper but doesn't really work, in that the way to combat the problem is by letting the 'poor help themselves'.

I think to begin with the problem of unfit housing needs to be resolved; if people have conditions that are up to general living standards I believe they will generally gain more moral to take themselves out of poverty.

Also I think governments need to direct their offices and call centers into these impovershed areas to general stop the exclusion from the labour market that exists. I think SO much more funding needs to be put into community centres in these areas, and if people pay money use it as somewhere for more than just activities but somewhere to eat, which, in my view would strengthen any community, and thus allow any kind of 'regeneration' programme to be so much more succesfull. I think that is kind of where 'sure start' failed.

SOMEONE GIVE VIEWS PLEASE SURELY GAGA IS NOT MORE IMPORTANT?
/angered and bored.

I don't think there is poverty in the sense of other Countries where they have little or no running water, good sanitation etc, however there is poverty of a sort for those on very low incomes,also of course we do have homeless people too and for me that any one should find themselves in need in the UK is a disgrace to the Govts. of all parties over the decades and indeed the last century too.

However,there are people who don't help themselves and there are others who will take all they can never worrying at all about those who may need what they are getting.

So yes, I believe we have real poor in the UK and it needs to be sorted out, people desperately in need who especially in Winter cannot heat their homes need help to do so,I agree that for people on benefits,they need to be re-assessed not just necessarily to see if they can now or could work sometime in the future but to see what their needs are too.

Someone sick for instance,long term sick can have lots of help if they manage to get it,that is right if they are genuinely permanently or long term sick, but someone who has worked and had a wage, who then finds themself unemployed drops dramatically in income and is often left really struggling.That needs to be addressed too.

Despite its current problems the UK is still a fluid and rich Nation with assests and the ability to increase revenue so no one should be poor in this Country,(unless they won't help themselves).However the sad thing is in the World of finance and big business many poorer people do get lost or forgotten in the system and safeguards need to be put in place to ensure this does not remain the case.

As for charitable help, well, charity begins at home, and we should ensure we look after those in genuine need and help make sure worries to the necessities of life such as food,water, clothing, a home and energy are erased.

Of course there are people who will just sit back and wait for any handout whether it's needed or not and it is wrong for that to be allowed to continue but there are people now in the UK who are not in poverty as such but who are really struggling to survive and that should not be happening.

It's a very difficult question, there needs to be a lot more social mobility, it's still the case a lot of the time that if you're born poor you die poor, and it needs to be made easier for those people in poverty to alleviate themselves out of it. What the best way to do that is I'm not quite sure.

I agree with that :hugesmile: (Relative poverty is different to absolute poverty, relative is where you have basically nothing compared to the average person in the country)

Looks at Scott. :nono: I do agree with this, and I think it's ridiculious when we get people are age claiming benefits when they don't really need them - they have a house, and relatively well off parents who can pay to keep them - it's just a waste of money when it could go to someone who is in genuine need. However, that said I do think we need to discourage welfare dependecy from a young age, which often leads to relative poverty. Alot of young girls 16+ for example think getting pregnant will help them - yes you get a house, but from then on you are pretty screwed. That's kind of why I support the idea of hostels.

I agree with this too :hugesmile: I think they current system allows to many people to fall on the wrong side of the line.


Looks at Scott again :nono::nono:

I think parents should put their kids before buying drugs, cigarettes and alcohol for themselves.

Of course they should... but it's SO ignorant to suggest this happens in most cases. Especially with our media it's easy to believe that relative poverty stems from peoples pure laziness, but in some cases it is just impossible to survive. I don't really get what you are trying to say... that anyone struggling is a drug addicted, chain smoking alcoholic?

No I don't think every child in poverty has a messed up parent. But the ones that do, their parents should be reeducated in how to look after a child and what they have to spend benefit money on.

Ok, I agree with that. It's really outdated (like 80 years!) bur 'The Road to Wigan Pier' studied working class poverty then, and one of the arguments it makes is that often those in deprived situations just prefer to spend money on drinks, gambling and such like as thats the only kind of happiness they can reach. Obviously it is abit of a middle class view but I think it applies suprisingly well to the problems of today.

I watched the "Poor Kids" thing. Was pretty sad to see. Especially as it was in my city. I think families seem to get into a struggle they can't get out of, then it passes on from generation to generation. But to be fair, those kids seemed really bright and switched on. Hopefully something can come good of at least those ones who were filmed. I felt sorry for the boy most, getting bullied and all that and thinking of suicide. None of them seemed like "broken" families really like we usually see in docs like those. They sorta all pulled together.

:bored:

imma show yall http://www.greendaycommunity.org/For.../Dark/hmph.png

for a nutter you have quite nice handwriting scott :amazed:

What personality disorder do you have? lol

thats not my handwriting its the doctors you fail, you cant write you own sick notes :bored:

and schizoid

yes you can, it's how I got out of rowing for 2 months http://i.imgur.com/0aCn1.png

:joker:

So you're gonna try claim ESA again?

Stop Breeding.

Tax even more from the rich and less from the poor.

The tax we pay which should mainly go to hospitals and education and transport. Well it should also go to poor families. Poor families need the basic needs to survive like we all do. Shelter, warm clothing, food and water (hot and cold so they can have a bath/shower)

Poor families need to help themselves too. They shouldn't have a pet cat or dog, they shouldn't have Sky TV. Just basic essentials to keep them going. If you can't afford it. Don't buy it!

Benefits are still being handed out though. Which they should. But to genuine poor families who only spend it on basic rashing. Not luxuries!

:joker::joker::joker:

Beastie :love:

is this show as sad as "How the other half live"?

im already on it

i went for a medical the other week, and my money stopped and i thought it was because i didnt pass the medical, but i rang them and they said they havent even had the report back from the medical (dont know why) and the reason they stopped paying is because my doctors not ran out and until they have had the report back from their people they cant pay me without a note from my own doctor

It's like £60 a month down the drain. I would have Sky if I had that type of money to burn. But I am not bothered about it. I have Free Freeview TV and the internet which is cheaper! lol

and yall can stfu anyway, my parents have worked and paid taxes their entire lives http://www.greendaycommunity.org/For.../Dark/hmph.png

I get ESA without a doctors note. Didn't you used to get that?

no D':

once they have the report back from the medical lady i wont need doctors notes anymore

I had to appeal for mine, and with this new benefits reform might be quite hard for you D:

I think that the only way out of poverty is education. The fact that poorer people don't usually have access to great schools is the greatest shame there is in a country as rich as ours. I come from a working class area and a working class family. I work in a field that is dominated by people from privileged backgrounds who automatically had access to the best schools because their parents could afford it. That's simply not fair because there are talented, intelligent people who don't get a fair crack of the whip because they don't have (or can't afford) the education that'd make them rise to the top.

Also, I think contraception should be addressed sensibly. Every child should be a wanted child, and if you can't afford to have half a dozen kids, then you shouldn't have them. Contraception is plentiful and its free. I'm not saying that poor people should not be supported when they have kids, I'm saying that the benefits should not be thrown at people who have loads of kids they can't control or provide for and then rely on the state to support them.

On Sky they can change to the free
SkyFreesat.

Then no charge each month.

:laugh3:

Thats hardly the point. I don't understand why you show no guilt :conf:

(I hope you don't think I'm being mean, but I do think it's absurdly stupid how you can claim money you don't really need when others are struggling.

sorry but you can **** right off :bored:

you know nothing about my situation or why the doctor says i shouldnt work so be quiet

Oh sorry, I wasn't saying the reasons the doctor gives aren't right (I'm not that horrid haha, you explained to me on ******** a while ago when we were speaking about it all with Tommy)... and I'm not suggesting you can just get a job.

What I am saying however is that you don't really need the money. Unless the situation has changed, before you were saying your parents were relatively comfortable, and therefore the amount of money you recieved does not match what it is needed for. What I'm saying is you don't really need the money compared to some people, as your parents can afford to give you some, whereas others genuinely need the money.

I hope this hasn't offended you but I personally feel this is one of the failures in the system.

oh well thats ok then

i thought you meant i was faking an illness or something to get the money http://www.greendaycommunity.org/For.../Dark/hmph.png

haha no I'm not that harsh, and I don't think you're that mean. I just was arguing that the money is too much... I think it should be more means tested and dependant on whether you live on your own or with parents, and consider how much the parents earn.

You shouldn't sponge off anyone. But it's a lot better to sponge off the parents than it is sponging off the government/other people's taxes when that money can be used for genuine poor people!

Exacatly, I'm not saying Scott isn't ill, but I am saying that the money isn't really needed. (And he is just a minor example for people that do it to a much larger scale - often genuinely not even being ill/needing the money)

So are you saying just cos his parents earn a bit of money he's not entitled to any, just cos they might be able to afford to support him?

Basically, yes. If an individual is living with their parents and they are of sufficient income to support the individual they don't need as much money. They don't need to pay for food, accomadation, gas, electricity, water, internet, council tax, state tax, etc. And thus often in these cases the money is spent on crap, when some people actually need the money.

(This is in general cases, not directly aimed at Scott)