Youth Unemployment

[View From The Top]

Another factor is the removal of EMA.

 

Most think, wrongly, it was just FE students. It wasn't.

 

Organisations targeting "hard to reach" young people used EMA as a engagement tool, for courses like E2E which often had fantastic results in getting work placements for NEETS and then those youngsters being taken on. One company I've had experience of working in partnership with was running a 70% success rate of NEETS to employment and had won national and regional awards. The odd £30 of the EMA was used for bus passes etc and these programmes, in my experience in the Black Country and Potteries, worked.

 

The removal of EMA and subsequent central funding has meant the whole scale closing of these type of courses, increases in youth numbers on the unemployment register and good, dedicated and experienced staff, made redundant.

 

So foolishly short sighted.

[dune]

Not for your benefit' date=' as I suspect you are too 'challenged ' to comprehend them anyway. [/quote']

 

The problem is I fall asleep half way through them.

[Fuengirola Saint]

As long as ex-pats were required to return to GB eh? Only fair.

 

Don't say that! I'm not coming back to that Friedmanite test tube.

[dune]

Don't say that! I'm not coming back to that Friedmanite test tube.

 

I was staying with friends at their front line golf villa in Guadalmina last week. We should have met for a glass of pims.

[teamsaint]

Another factor is the removal of EMA.

 

Most think, wrongly, it was just FE students. It wasn't.

 

Organisations targeting "hard to reach" young people used EMA as a engagement tool, for courses like E2E which often had fantastic results in getting work placements for NEETS and then those youngsters being taken on. One company I've had experience of working in partnership with was running a 70% success rate of NEETS to employment and had won national and regional awards. The odd £30 of the EMA was used for bus passes etc and these programmes, in my experience in the Black Country and Potteries, worked.

 

The removal of EMA and subsequent central funding has meant the whole scale closing of these type of courses, increases in youth numbers on the unemployment register and good, dedicated and experienced staff, made redundant.

 

So foolishly short sighted.

 

not short sighted at all.... quite deliberate and well thought out.

watch carefully....this "government" is targetting all its spending on companies(including arms companies) and its city friends (check out where the quantitative easing money went, all £75BN), and is taking as much as possible out of the pockets of ordinary people.

 

Watch every move, because this is what they are doing. They are impoverishing all but the top 10 %. They are getting our kids into debt as early as possible, and making the rest of us work till we drop. Its not pretty, and sadly labour want all the same things.

 

Don't trust a word any of them say...we are here to keep them and their rich masters happy.

[hamster]

Truth of the matter is that consecutive governments have raised the retirement age meaning that people who want to ease into old age are forced to stay in situ, thus limiting opportunities for youngsters to enter the workplace.

 

They'd rather pay unemployment benefits to kids than retirement benefits to people who've done their bit. Mad policies that I genuinely can not get my head around!

[Crazy Diamond]

EMA?

 

It was a system that was open to abuse. A friend of mine's father worked for Pirelli, and was very high up in the business. So high up in fact he made himself redundant and walked away with enough money to live on for the rest of his life. Because my friend was only seen to have one parent in work, he got EMA. What did he do with it? He walked from college into town and bought easter eggs from Somerfield.

 

I'm not against the idea but I am against a system that is so flawed that it allows that kind of thing to happen. If EMA's withdrawal shows a decrease in people going to university, which as I have said previously is at a level that is unmanageable, I'm afraid I'm not dead against it going away. It's a horrible thing to say and I believe everyone should have the choice, but it really is just so unmanageable. It really, really is.

[Saintandy666]

Eastern Europeans are doing the jobs that a lot of people in this country simply don't want to do. I don't think it is as simple as people think it is. There is also a severe lack of jobs in many places.

[hamster]

Well, I'm doing my bit, handed my notice in yesterday, gonna work for myself. Don't thank me, purely selfish reasons.

[dune]

Eastern Europeans are doing the jobs that a lot of people in this country simply don't want to do. I don't think it is as simple as people think it is. There is also a severe lack of jobs in many places.

 

What would you know about the British work force? You've still got the cradle marks on your arse and have no experience of working life.

[sambosa75]

What would you know about the British work force? You've still got the cradle marks on your arse and have no experience of working life.

 

He's got a point to be fair. In Southampton and London there are Eastern Europeans doing jobs that English people think are beneath them. When I first moved to London I took a job as a luggage porter on £10k a year, working alongside Poles and Somalis. I did it because it was a foot in the door. A career in the hotel industry can be very rewarding and certainly has some great benefits. Try telling a lot of young English people to take a job as a chamber maid to get their foot in the door. I guarantee most won't do it.

[1976_Child]

The only unemployed youths that I want to see are the legions of feckless Tory mummy's boys 'running' the country at the moment. Typical rich over privileged ***ts who were all born with silver spoons in their mouths and Daddy's trust fund so they never have to do a single day of real work. Cameron and Osborne wouldn't know what unemployment is let alone care. Sameold elites lording it over the rest of us. The sooner the coalition breaks down the better.

[Thedelldays]

He's got a point to be fair. In Southampton and London there are Eastern Europeans doing jobs that English people think are beneath them. When I first moved to London I took a job as a luggage porter on £10k a year, working alongside Poles and Somalis. I did it because it was a foot in the door. A career in the hotel industry can be very rewarding and certainly has some great benefits. Try telling a lot of young English people to take a job as a chamber maid to get their foot in the door. I guarantee most won't do it.

do you have any proof of this what so ever.?A good friend of mine is out of work in soton and is struggling to get a job. he will do anything but many firms pass him over for eastern europeans...he has even been told this 'off the record' as they can pay them less... despite not even asking what he would work for

[Crazy Diamond]

The only unemployed youths that I want to see are the legions of feckless Tory mummy's boys 'running' the country at the moment. Typical rich over privileged ***ts who were all born with silver spoons in their mouths and Daddy's trust fund so they never have to do a single day of real work. Cameron and Osborne wouldn't know what unemployment is let alone care. Sameold elites lording it over the rest of us. The sooner the coalition breaks down the better.

 

You've not heard of stereotyping have you?

[dune]

Saw this article on the front page of todays express. It backs up my point that immigrants are causing unemployment for British people.

 

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/277363

[um pahars]

EMA?

 

It was a system that was open to abuse. A friend of mine's father worked for Pirelli, and was very high up in the business. So high up in fact he made himself redundant and walked away with enough money to live on for the rest of his life. Because my friend was only seen to have one parent in work, he got EMA. What did he do with it? He walked from college into town and bought easter eggs from Somerfield.

 

I'm not against the idea but I am against a system that is so flawed that it allows that kind of thing to happen. If EMA's withdrawal shows a decrease in people going to university, which as I have said previously is at a level that is unmanageable, I'm afraid I'm not dead against it going away. It's a horrible thing to say and I believe everyone should have the choice, but it really is just so unmanageable. It really, really is.

 

I'm sure you could find abuse, fraud or ccok ups with whatever system you devise, but I would caution against tarring all of the EMA recipients with a broad brush.

 

I work in a challenging school in a relatively deprived area and anecdotally have found that the EMA allowance was a big incentive for students to continue their post 16 education. It will be interesting to see national and local figures as the replacement does not appear to have anywhere near the same exposure or take up.

 

As for your argument about too many people going to University, then I have some sympathy with that line, but EMA was primarily targetted at the post 16/Further Education audience which included many students doing vocational/"manual" courses as well as A levels.

[1976_Child]

You've not heard of stereotyping have you?

 

So you reckon Cameron and Osborne really understand what it is like to scrape by on minimum wage, no savings and no hope if the job is lost? Gimme a break. The Tories have never cared about poor people. And they never will. All these toffee-nosed nobs went into politics for is to make it easier for them and their privileged 'old school tie' network to make more money and consolidate power.

 

And the tragedy is that we don't have a real Labour party to oppose them. Mili-dweeb is just as feckless and useless.

[Crazy Diamond]

I'm sure you could find abuse, fraud or ccok ups with whatever system you devise, but I would caution against tarring all of the EMA recipients with a broad brush.

 

I work in a challenging school in a relatively deprived area and anecdotally have found that the EMA allowance was a big incentive for students to continue their post 16 education. It will be interesting to see national and local figures as the replacement does not appear to have anywhere near the same exposure or take up.

 

As for your argument about too many people going to University, then I have some sympathy with that line, but EMA was primarily targetted at the post 16/Further Education audience which included many students doing vocational/"manual" courses as well as A levels.

 

I've no doubts that it was a motivation, but was it a case of people turning up to get the money each week or did they actually turn up and actually show signs that they were learning? You're right though, any system is open to abuse really, and the case of my friend is neither unique nor the norm, I dare say EMA was a brilliant thing for a lot of students. I think a lot more people should be encouraged to do vocational courses - when I was at school and college they were looked down upon, when really, they are courses that teach valuable skills that will always be needed.

[Crazy Diamond]

So you reckon Cameron and Osborne really understand what it is like to scrape by on minimum wage, no savings and no hope if the job is lost? Gimme a break. The Tories have never cared about poor people. And they never will. All these toffee-nosed nobs went into politics for is to make it easier for them and their privileged 'old school tie' network to make more money and consolidate power.

 

And the tragedy is that we don't have a real Labour party to oppose them. Mili-dweeb is just as feckless and useless.

 

No, what I'm saying is, you think every person that votes Conservative has a trust fund and has their lives made for them. I vote Conservative, not afraid to admit it either, but I'm unemployed, am not well off and am struggling to pay a monthly phone bill of £37. You tell me if your description is fair.

[um pahars]

I've no doubts that it was a motivation, but was it a case of people turning up to get the money each week or did they actually turn up and actually show signs that they were learning?

 

I'm sure the payments (inc periodic one off payments) were only made if individual targets relating to learning and attendance were being met.

[Crazy Diamond]

I'm sure the payments (inc periodic one off payments) were only made if individual targets relating to learning and attendance were being met.

 

I thought it was solely based on attendance. My mistake.

[1976_Child]

No, what I'm saying is, you think every person that votes Conservative has a trust fund and has their lives made for them. I vote Conservative, not afraid to admit it either, but I'm unemployed, am not well off and am struggling to pay a monthly phone bill of £37. You tell me if your description is fair.

 

Of course I am not talking about Tory voters. I am specifically talking about the pillocks who are running the country. The typical Tory-boy MP has absolutely no idea about how the vast majority of the country lives. They have done nothing before entering politics (which can also be said about many new Labour MPs) and they definitely have no sympathy for 'the masses'. They see it as their God-given right to lecture people on how to live, they take away precious money from the people at the bottom of the pile. They think that an Eton education makes them fit to rule and that the plebs should do what they are told. Their main concern is protecting the Establishment so that their children will be able to waltz into a well-paid job but damn the common man's children. They don't matter.

 

I feel sorry for you, genuinely, if you are struggling to get by. But you should think long and hard before voting for the Tories in future. They honestly couldn't give a stuff about you or your phone bill. But I do concede that it would be easier to convince people of this if we had a real Labour party.

[Crazy Diamond]

Of course I am not talking about Tory voters. I am specifically talking about the pillocks who are running the country. The typical Tory-boy MP has absolutely no idea about how the vast majority of the country lives. They have done nothing before entering politics (which can also be said about many new Labour MPs) and they definitely have no sympathy for 'the masses'. They see it as their God-given right to lecture people on how to live, they take away precious money from the people at the bottom of the pile. They think that an Eton education makes them fit to rule and that the plebs should do what they are told. Their main concern is protecting the Establishment so that their children will be able to waltz into a well-paid job but damn the common man's children. They don't matter.

 

I feel sorry for you, genuinely, if you are struggling to get by. But you should think long and hard before voting for the Tories in future. They honestly couldn't give a stuff about you or your phone bill. But I do concede that it would be easier to convince people of this if we had a real Labour party.

 

I'm sure they couldn't either mate, but we all have our own reasons.

 

As for the Eton education thing and telling people how to live? Blair went to Eton and it was his and Brown's governments that led us to coin the term 'nanny state'. Whilst I have my political allegiances, I've learnt fairly quickly you can't trust any politician and really there are no winners in politics, so it's not worth getting in a state over it.

 

I think you are right in saying that there's no real alternative at the moment either - it wouldn't surprise me if Ed finds himself out of a job soon. It'd be a big, big deal, the Labour leadership isn't as easy to dictate as the Conservative leadership with the 1922 Committee, but it's not been all that good so far.

[1976_Child]

I'm sure they couldn't either mate, but we all have our own reasons.

 

As for the Eton education thing and telling people how to live? Blair went to Eton and it was his and Brown's governments that led us to coin the term 'nanny state'. Whilst I have my political allegiances, I've learnt fairly quickly you can't trust any politician and really there are no winners in politics, so it's not worth getting in a state over it.

 

I think you are right in saying that there's no real alternative at the moment either - it wouldn't surprise me if Ed finds himself out of a job soon. It'd be a big, big deal, the Labour leadership isn't as easy to dictate as the Conservative leadership with the 1922 Committee, but it's not been all that good so far.

 

Don't think so. I think he went to Fettes in Edinburgh.

[um pahars]

I thought it was solely based on attendance. My mistake.

 

I'm no expert on the national picture, but I know the two colleges most of our students went to would only pay if they were there and they were working.

 

I really can't state how important it appeared to be in influencing students to continue their post 16 education ("vocational" or "academic"), which I think is so important. Probably too early to judge the impact of its demise, but my initial gut feel would be that it has had a negative effect. Will keep an open mind and see how things go.

[sambosa75]

Don't think so. I think he went to Fettes in Edinburgh.

 

Confirmed.

[Crazy Diamond]

Confirmed.

 

You are of course correct, my mistake. It was however described as 'the Eton of the north'...

[dune]

So you reckon Cameron and Osborne really understand what it is like to scrape by on minimum wage, no savings and no hope if the job is lost? Gimme a break. The Tories have never cared about poor people. And they never will. All these toffee-nosed nobs went into politics for is to make it easier for them and their privileged 'old school tie' network to make more money and consolidate power.

 

And the tragedy is that we don't have a real Labour party to oppose them. Mili-dweeb is just as feckless and useless.

 

And what do Labours Notting Hill brigade know of the real world?

 

The Millibands, Balls, and Balls ratbag wife are so different aren't they.

[teamsaint]

Of course I am not talking about Tory voters. I am specifically talking about the pillocks who are running the country. The typical Tory-boy MP has absolutely no idea about how the vast majority of the country lives. They have done nothing before entering politics (which can also be said about many new Labour MPs) and they definitely have no sympathy for 'the masses'. They see it as their God-given right to lecture people on how to live, they take away precious money from the people at the bottom of the pile. They think that an Eton education makes them fit to rule and that the plebs should do what they are told. Their main concern is protecting the Establishment so that their children will be able to waltz into a well-paid job but damn the common man's children. They don't matter.

 

I feel sorry for you, genuinely, if you are struggling to get by. But you should think long and hard before voting for the Tories in future. They honestly couldn't give a stuff about you or your phone bill. But I do concede that it would be easier to convince people of this if we had a real Labour party.

 

You are spot on. The people in charge have no idea, and do not care, how most people live. Every single thing they do takes money out of ordinary peoples pockets. All government spending is going, wherever they can do it, into the pockets of big companies (infrastuctureprojects and tax relief) or to the city. (check out where £75bn of quantitative easing went....)

 

And sadly labout is just as bad. new frontbencher Rachel Reeves...British embassy, bank of England, HBOS. So she will help defend working people ....obviously. Her first big thing was to DEFEND raising pension ages....when unemployment is soaring.(she tried to make labour look good by a bit of tinkering round the edges of the pension age plans).

Do not trust ANY of them to defend us. They are all in the pockets of the banks, big money, the arms companies, and anybody else with power. Look around you. Look at your local high st. People don't choose to be poor or ill educated. Other, powerful people make sure that this is their status.

Time to wake up.

Time to look after each other.

Time to deal with the tiny elites who live off our hard work.

[1976_Child]

And what do Labours Notting Hill brigade know of the real world?

 

The Millibands, Balls, and Balls ratbag wife are so different aren't they.

 

I think if you read my posts carefully you will understand that I agree with you whole-heartedly. They are all champagne socialists. The day the Labour party picked Milli-dweeb for leader was the lowest point in its illustrious history. Actually, second lowest: Nothing was as damaging for the party than Blair.

[badgerx16]

Saw this article on the front page of todays express. It backs up my point that immigrants are causing unemployment for British people.

 

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/277363

 

No it doesn't. In this case the firm employs over a thousand people and 2 of them have been 'let go' for whatever reason, and have gone crying to the press with their own version of 'Is it because I am white ?", whereas the story indicates of one of the women "In disciplinary letters, she was accused of violence, discriminating against other workers on grounds of nationality and language and was told her paperwork was a “shambles".

Not at all like a Tory rag to prejudge anything so as to play up it's xenophobic stance.

[Crazy Diamond]

The biggest shock of those Oliver Letwin photos is that he didn't offer those ducks and geese some bread. Typical selfish Tory.

[1976_Child]

The biggest shock of those Oliver Letwin photos is that he didn't offer those ducks and geese some bread. Typical selfish Tory.

 

Quite right. Even if the papers he chucked away turn out to be harmless he is a complete tit for doing it. Should be sacked.

[Crazy Diamond]

Quite right. Even if the papers he chucked away turn out to be harmless he is a complete tit for doing it. Should be sacked.

 

If ministerial code is breached, should be black and white really, off he goes. And Liam Fox.

[1976_Child]

If ministerial code is breached, should be black and white really, off he goes. And Liam Fox.

 

I haven't been following the Liam Fox case closely. Is he gay, is Werrity his lover or just a mate?

[Crazy Diamond]

I haven't been following the Liam Fox case closely. Is he gay, is Werrity his lover or just a mate?

 

Your guess is as good as mine. Just a mate he says, but a few years ago they said he was either a playboy or gay for not being married.

 

There was all that fuss about Hague being up to no good - that all faded away very quickly and its acknowledged that story was a load of tosh, so who knows what'll happen with this one.

[hamster]

Being gay is not 'up to no good' i think we established that quite some time ago.

[Johnny Bognor]

The only unemployed youths that I want to see are the legions of feckless Tory mummy's boys 'running' the country at the moment. Typical rich over privileged ***ts who were all born with silver spoons in their mouths and Daddy's trust fund so they never have to do a single day of real work. Cameron and Osborne wouldn't know what unemployment is let alone care. Sameold elites lording it over the rest of us. The sooner the coalition breaks down the better.

 

Although that may be true of the modern politician (on both sides), if you look at the last two tory PMs (pre cameron), one was the Daughter of a shopkeeper and the other couldn't get a job as a bus conductor and spent a considerable amount of time as an unemployed youth

[dune]

A sad day for the Conservative Party as a 'True Tory' (and not some Blue Labour apologist) leaves the party. Watch from 40.06 mins.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b015s50q/The_Politics_Show_East_Midlands_16_10_2011

[Wurzel]

You are spot on. The people in charge have no idea, and do not care, how most people live. Every single thing they do takes money out of ordinary peoples pockets. All government spending is going, wherever they can do it, into the pockets of big companies (infrastuctureprojects and tax relief) or to the city. (check out where £75bn of quantitative easing went....)

 

And sadly labout is just as bad. new frontbencher Rachel Reeves...British embassy, bank of England, HBOS. So she will help defend working people ....obviously. Her first big thing was to DEFEND raising pension ages....when unemployment is soaring.(she tried to make labour look good by a bit of tinkering round the edges of the pension age plans).

Do not trust ANY of them to defend us. They are all in the pockets of the banks, big money, the arms companies, and anybody else with power. Look around you. Look at your local high st. People don't choose to be poor or ill educated. Other, powerful people make sure that this is their status.

Time to wake up.

Time to look after each other.

Time to deal with the tiny elites who live off our hard work.

 

 

Of course I am not talking about Tory voters. I am specifically talking about the pillocks who are running the country. The typical Tory-boy MP has absolutely no idea about how the vast majority of the country lives. They have done nothing before entering politics (which can also be said about many new Labour MPs) and they definitely have no sympathy for 'the masses'. They see it as their God-given right to lecture people on how to live, they take away precious money from the people at the bottom of the pile. They think that an Eton education makes them fit to rule and that the plebs should do what they are told. Their main concern is protecting the Establishment so that their children will be able to waltz into a well-paid job but damn the common man's children. They don't matter.

 

I feel sorry for you, genuinely, if you are struggling to get by. But you should think long and hard before voting for the Tories in future. They honestly couldn't give a stuff about you or your phone bill. But I do concede that it would be easier to convince people of this if we had a real Labour party.

 

 

Who are "the masses" and "ordinary people" ? Why can't they find just one person in each constituency to stand on their behalf and receive enough votes that a government can be formed to represent what they want?

[bridge too far]

Who are "the masses" and "ordinary people" ? Why can't they find just one person in each constituency to stand on their behalf and receive enough votes that a government can be formed to represent what they want?

 

Perhaps the 'ordinary people' can't afford the risk? OK if they don't get elected, they can carry on with whatever employment they currently have. But suppose they get elected in a marginal seat that might swing against them in a subsequent election? They'll be unemployed. Unlike a lot of current MPs, they might find it very hard to get back into employment.

 

When you think, for example, that the new Defence Secretary has a personal wealth of between £7.5m and £9m, then you can see that, if he lost his seat, he'd still be very comfortable. The same can be said of Cameron (£30m) and Osborne (£4m). And top Labour and LibDem politicians would also be comfortable if they lost their seats because they'd be in line for directorships / lectureships etc.

 

But the ordinary man / woman in the street?

[Window Cleaner]

Who are "the masses" and "ordinary people" ? Why can't they find just one person in each constituency to stand on their behalf and receive enough votes that a government can be formed to represent what they want?

 

Trouble is that when you actually get into government and see the real state of affairs you realise that you just can't change

anything of any great value because of the pure enormity of the task.The solutions always seem evident until you have to actually put them into effect,then they don't work because no-one is willing to accept the severity of the medecine needed to cure the illness.

If a country really wanted to put itself back onto it's feet then you'd need about a 70% tax rate across the board, stop handouts completely and work 50 hours a week for about 300£ a month after deductions.Sounds like China or Vietnam?....probably is.

[1976_Child]

never understood the whole raising the pension age thing. Sure, an argument can be made for people to work longer now they are living longer but one of the reasons there was always a mandatory retirement age was to free up jobs at the top-end so everyone advances and space opens up at the bottom end. Maybe if more old gits buggered off to the golf course earlier there would be more room for the nippers coming out of school/college

[Thedelldays]

just came back from town..all the iPhone 4s are sold out..the shopping centre is packed solid, HMV was packed, etc etc

sms will be full etc etc

 

at a glance, people are still spending money...

[1976_Child]

just came back from town..all the iPhone 4s are sold out..the shopping centre is packed solid, HMV was packed, etc etc

sms will be full etc etc

 

at a glance, people are still spending money...

 

But are they actually spending or just browsing - most people have no imagination to go elsewhere so they just end up drifting down the shops. Also, don't forget that for a (say) 3% drop in highstreet spending it only takes either 3% of people to stay away or 100% of people to continue to go but spend 3p less in the pound. The problem is that it still causes havoc with our growth-dictated monetary system and it all falls apart. Especially as most retailers have already slashed margins to the bone already, as soon as the tills go slightly under target it is P45 time for the staff.

[Thedelldays]

But are they actually spending or just browsing - most people have no imagination to go elsewhere so they just end up drifting down the shops. Also, don't forget that for a (say) 3% drop in highstreet spending it only takes either 3% of people to stay away or 100% of people to continue to go but spend 3p less in the pound. The problem is that it still causes havoc with our growth-dictated monetary system and it all falls apart. Especially as most retailers have already slashed margins to the bone already, as soon as the tills go slightly under target it is P45 time for the staff.

well, I went in to O2 and the apple shop to look at the new iPhone and both had completely sold out....they sold out in day 1.....HMV was mobbed with a huge queue...and reading this thread made me realise, the whole of town was packed solid...and this area is as poor as it gets in the UK

[1976_Child]

well, I went in to O2 and the apple shop to look at the new iPhone and both had completely sold out....they sold out in day 1.....HMV was mobbed with a huge queue...and reading this thread made me realise, the whole of town was packed solid...and this area is as poor as it gets in the UK

 

sure, but for an iconic brand gadget like that people may well have cut back spending elsewhere to be able to afford it. The power of brands. Make people feel they need it and it becomes almost recession proof, but at the expense of other things like eating out or going to the cinema/football or even eating cheaper food. I think in aggregate spending is definitely down across the board. Interestingly enough, during the depression years in the US (1930s) car sales were very strong and grew year on year. It was the new fangled thing and prices had dropped rapidly.

[Minty]

sure, but for an iconic brand gadget like that people may well have cut back spending elsewhere to be able to afford it. The power of brands. Make people feel they need it and it becomes almost recession proof, but at the expense of other things like eating out or going to the cinema/football or even eating cheaper food. I think in aggregate spending is definitely down across the board. Interestingly enough, during the depression years in the US (1930s) car sales were very strong and grew year on year. It was the new fangled thing and prices had dropped rapidly.

And here we have exactly why people need to look at themselves first and foremost before blaming politicians (of every persuasion) and banks and everyone else, for them apparently 'not being able to afford' things. Sure, the world is full of problems and a lot of them are caused by politics, banks, capitalism, immigration and god knows what else, depending on your standpoint, but ultimately, the person in control of your finances is YOU, so if you need to moderate your spending but don't, then that's your choice.

 

The phrase 'I/we can't afford it' is one of the most used these days, but actually, if people were honest, what a lot of them really mean is: 'I could afford it if I gave up something else, or didn't waste money on non-essential things, but that's my choice so I can't complain'.

 

There are many who are genuinely struggling, and I really feel for them, but the genuine cases are often overshadowed by people effectively crying wolf.

[Wurzel]

And here we have exactly why people need to look at themselves first and foremost before blaming politicians (of every persuasion) and banks and everyone else, for them apparently 'not being able to afford' things. Sure, the world is full of problems and a lot of them are caused by politics, banks, capitalism, immigration and god knows what else, depending on your standpoint, but ultimately, the person in control of your finances is YOU, so if you need to moderate your spending but don't, then that's your choice.

 

The phrase 'I/we can't afford it' is one of the most used these days, but actually, if people were honest, what a lot of them really mean is: 'I could afford it if I gave up something else, or didn't waste money on non-essential things, but that's my choice so I can't complain'.

 

There are many who are genuinely struggling, and I really feel for them, but the genuine cases are often overshadowed by people effectively crying wolf.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

Too many people have grown up with an attitude of "I want it so I have to have it". Fair enough, it has been in the interests of capitalism to encourage that attitude, but at the end of the day it is the individual that makes the decision to buy, the shops etc aren't exactly mugging people.

 

Remember, sometime you have to

[Thedelldays]

sure, but for an iconic brand gadget like that people may well have cut back spending elsewhere to be able to afford it. The power of brands. Make people feel they need it and it becomes almost recession proof, but at the expense of other things like eating out or going to the cinema/football or even eating cheaper food. I think in aggregate spending is definitely down across the board. Interestingly enough, during the depression years in the US (1930s) car sales were very strong and grew year on year. It was the new fangled thing and prices had dropped rapidly.

just the high street generally...mobbed mate and the south west is as poor as you get....the shops were packed

 

my point is...at a glance (and the high street is a fair barometer) there is no way the end of the world problems as some make out (be it papers, forum posters)