Are these people for real?

[chookey]

Just seen a senior staff Nurse on the news saying she is struggling to pay her bills and has had to stop paying into her pension. She must be on around £38,000 basic for her grade. Wasn't mentioned during the very short interview but I'm guessing she's married and was definitely old enough to have a couple of kids. Her combined income is likely above £60k.

A day or so ago there was a story about a 20 year old who was struggling. He is on minimum wage earning £6-83 p.h, working 7 x 10 hour shifts per week. He said he is earning around £2000 a month but kept something like 4 dogs and 6 cats. He has to accept help from animal charities to feed them and "I would sooner feed them than myself".
He can't afford to heat the water or his flat and has to resort to showering at the gym.

Do the media honestly think we're that stupid? How many people do you know who live on far less than the 2 examples above, yet seem to be managing?
I'm not saying Nurses don't deserve a reasonable pay rise but they're not skint and queuing up at food banks like they would have us believe. One of mine is a nurse, has kids and is doing just fine.

As for the 20 year old he will get a £3 per hour rise when he hits 21. In the meantime if he get's shot of 3 dogs and 5 cats he will do just fine.

 

[turner brown]

WOW, that's a bit harsh. I work 35 hours a week and get paid 26k a year or thereabouts. from that, I have my mortgage at 250 per month council tax at 150 per month, 40 per month factor bill due to the type of property I stay in, 100 fuel bills. not to mention tax or ni and student loan adding up to about 550 a month. that's without transport costs. i am down to about 600 quid a month by the time I pay the bills without any food or clothing

 

[turner brown]

ye I get the point about the guy with the animals but the nurse did it say she was married or single

 

[Sandra51]

Quite a lot of the people you see on TV saying that they have to use food banks and often go hungry to make sure that their kids are fed are very overweight.

Maybe they have some kind of thyroid problem that makes them gain weight without eating.

 

[chookey]

Quite a lot of the people you see on TV saying that they have to use food banks and often go hungry to make sure that their kids are fed are very overweight.

Maybe they have some kind of thyroid problem that makes them gain weight without eating.

Exactly my point. Are they just stooges or in the case of the 20 year old, likely fiction?
The media draws attention to their plight whilst also adding little snippets showing there is no real need for their plight. I think the whole point is just to sow derision and create anger.

 

[Joe Noodles]

Quite a lot of the people you see on TV saying that they have to use food banks and often go hungry to make sure that their kids are fed are very overweight.

Maybe they have some kind of thyroid problem that makes them gain weight without eating.

Ya its always the LARGE folk you see going to food banks on the TV
I live on far lower ££ than any I've seen on TV and don't go to food banks and I have the heating on

 

[avid]

Tbh I have noticed as the years pass people seem to be getting larger, but poverty is no joke and is a lot worse in some other countries compared to the UK.
I also think some people don’t know how to prioritise and budget their incomes. Either through lack of educating themselves, or either too lazy to try.
My wife works with a girl she’s has two kids and her husband pays the mortgage and all the bills. Two weeks after she has been paid she always moaning she’s skint.
Only the other day she was saying she wanted the iPhone 14 and she already has the iPhones 13 pro

 

[Joe Noodles]

Tbh I have noticed as the years pass people seem to be getting larger, but poverty is no joke and is a lot worse in some other countries compared to the UK.
I also think some people don’t know how to prioritise and budget their incomes. Either through lack of educating themselves, or either too lazy to try.

They like like to buy ciggies/drugs/ale etc before food/heating etc

 

[Joe Noodles]

I've told my mate ages ago who helps the community show me a family with kids who don't buy ciggies/drugs/ale have a large tv/sky/mobile/internet and a car and I will feed them for a whole month out of my own pocket, its been almost 2yrs now and still wating

 

[avid]

I will offer to buy homeless people food and non alcoholic drink but I don’t give them money.

 

[Sandra51]

Exactly my point. Are they just stooges or in the case of the 20 year old, likely fiction?
The media draws attention to their plight whilst also adding little snippets showing there is no real need for their plight. I think the whole point is just to sow derision and create anger.

That's the same as when the BBC and C4 news show people getting off the border farce taxi service at Dover, somehow they always manage to find a boatload with a few women and children on them, while ignoring all those others that just have young men on them. They must take hours of film to find the money shot that they are after while discarding all the others that have no women or children on them.

The only difference there though is that they do that to try to create empathy and sympathy. We really need our media to always give a fair honest and balanced view and to show it as it really is.

 

[janobi]

Processed food is massively fattening. Food banks have this type of food as it lasts unlike fresh fruit and vegtables, or meat etc. This should be taken into account before you start criticising those less fortunate.

I know people that live on benefits, absolutely they struggle to pay bills etc. Then they end up just in a debt spiral. This is not to say that everyone of them are the same. Some of them are just straight up scamming.

 

[avid]

I’m not criticising anyone, I’m just saying people need to prioritise their income and learn how to save money. I grew up in one parent family and my mum fed us and tried her best to keep us warm. She didn’t drink, gamble or take drugs but she made every penny count.
I now very feel fortunate that we are debt free and don’t have to worry about trying to find money for rent, food and energy bills.
I can only imagine the worry some people find themselves in through debt and poverty.
The world is a messed up place and I can only see it getting worse tbh.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin.]

I’m not criticising anyone, I’m just saying people need to prioritise their income and learn how to save money. I grew up in one parent family and my mum fed us and tried her best to keep us warm. She didn’t drink, gamble or take drugs but she made every penny count.
I now very feel fortunate that we are debt free and don’t have to worry about trying to find money for rent, food and energy bills.
I can only imagine the worry some people find themselves in through debt and poverty.
The world is a messed up place and I can only see it getting worse tbh.

My mother raised 4 of us on her own , she didnt drink, had 5 park drive or woodbines every 6 months or so. We had overcoats on the beds in winter, never thought anything of it. Metal window frames wafer thin glass, paraffin heater if lucky on landing. We were always fed well be it stew, cheese & potato pie, home made pasties/pies etc, people have forgot how to cook.

 

[avid]

My mother raised 4 of us on her own , she didnt drink, had 5 park drive or woodbines every 6 months or so. We had overcoats on the beds in winter, never thought anything of it. Metal window frames wafer thin glass, paraffin heater if lucky on landing. We were always fed well be it stew, cheese & potato pie, home made pasties/pies etc, people have forgot how to cook.

I think having a poor upbringing, makes you really appreciate things more as you get older. It has me and I ain’t wealthy but I appreciate and look after what I have.

 

[rawsy]

Propaganda everywhere. But far fewer poverthan reported and I am sure there are poverty cases around but these peices are lazy and do not do them justice.

Processed food is massively fattening. Food banks have this type of food as it lasts unlike fresh fruit and vegtables, or meat etc. This should be taken into account before you start criticising those less fortunate.

I know people that live on benefits, absolutely they struggle to pay bills etc. Then they end up just in a debt spiral. This is not to say that everyone of them are the same. Some of them are just straight up scamming.

some people could help themselves others believe they are owed a living. At the same time people could be helped better.

I don’t believe benefits should be paid in money. Maybe food vouchers and rent paid directly to the landlord.

Welfare should be there but is a safety net

 

[Joe Noodles]

 

[chookey]

View attachment 153399

They used to have 5 dogs and 6 cats. They ate them

 

[flipflop63]

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[eder]

Ok, I am going to say it...

I've moved to the UK a while ago and started with a job that paid £300 per week. Survived fine. Emphasis on "survived". I then got a more stable job but paid far less at £5.80/ph - lived ok but limited luxuries as expected.

Being an immigrant (from outside of the EU) I was not allowed ANY benefits whatsoever! Not a penny! If I wanted/needed money I had to work. No other option - and how it should be. 1 job not enough? get 2! The problem with the UK is that there are too many people "unable" to work. I appreciate this is a big generalisation, but we ALL know someone milking the system.

Being limited in the way I could access resources made me work harder than the average joe. Many years later and having developed my skills, Just last week I've accept an job offer of £95k p/a. It was not an easy ride up to now, but worth every hour of effort and I would not change a thing.

I don't have the answer as to how the benefit system should work and I'm not naive to think that the problem is a simple one, I know is very complex. But the system as it stands is not fit for purpose and not the best way to support the ones in REAL need.