More on the housing crisis:
According to Zoopla, over half of all rented homes in the UK now have rents over £1000 a month, up from 29% in 2020.
(the average monthly nett salary last year was £2297 - ONS)
In East England this has gone from 24% to 70% above £1k rent
In Scotland, the North-West, East & West Midlands its 20%
But in Yorkshire/Humber is 4% &
In the North-East is none above £1k.
Alongside energy costs, this is over half many workers' income!
The #enforcedpoverty crisis in photos (and commentary) - sometimes #photojournalism reveals more than just reporting...
When you get down to the #deliveroo driver's shelter in Victoria Park #Bristol, you'll appreciate what the #gigeconomy's exploration of #workers looks like....
Once you've read this I'm sure you will not begrudge me using the term #classwar!
The crisis of state #enforcedpoverty (prev. the #costoflivingcrisis) has a very clear #health & #nutrition element... a new report suggests around 15% of UK households are experiencing period of hunger... which is having health effects (being picked up by the #NHS).
And yet, #JeremyHunt is 'considering' further #austerity including #benefits cuts.... it now longer seems extreme or exaggerated to see #Tory politics of the last decade as an extended #classwar!
As regulated lending increasingly becomes the preserve of the stable & well-off, with sub-prime lending declining by more than a 1/3 in the last five years, for the vulnerable & financially insecure, credit options have become more difficult.
Caught between a continuing period of state #enforcedpoverty & tightened regulations, the vulnerable are turning to unregulated Buy Now Pay Later loans or even loan sharks.
Insecure lives are being further damaged by aggressive loan 'recovery'.
H/T FT
Here's the view of the #enforcedpoverty crisis, otherwise known as the #costoflivingcrisis, from the desk of the Citizens Advice Bureau in #Newcastle...
And its not good....
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/citizens-advice-bureau-cost-of-living-crisis/
The British Retail Consortium's quick data on January #retail sales confirms that as sales growth (of 1.2%) continues to lag #inflation (4%) we continue to see a squeeze/decline on sales volumes;
as this indicates, the #costofloivingcrisis (or as I prefer the crisis of #enforcedpoverty) is still driving down actual spending power for individuals.
We are still buying less, although spending more on what we do buy.
For consumers, this is what #recession looks like, whatever the formal GDP data
First the #Tories cut council budgets & demanded efficiency gains... so councils sought #charities that could offer services more cheaply (as they were partly funded by donations & over grants).... then local provision became more & more dependent on these groups stretching their budgets.
Now further council budget cuts & declining fundraising from elsewhere (during the crisis of #enforcedpoverty) leave these charities teetering on the edge of failure.
#brokenbritain!
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/03/charities-warn-devastating-knock-on-impact-english-councils-financial-crisis
The financial crisis in Englands local government is (of course) multi-faceted but four areas particularly contribute to the budget pressures on councils trying to find ways to fund their statuary responsibilities:
#children's services;
Adult #socialcare;
#Homelessness;
Special #education needs & (associated) school transport.
#austerity & the #Tories' #enforcedpoverty are compounding these problems & slowly degrading provision, punishing the vulnerable.
The #Tories #enforcedpoverty via #austerity is constraining career choice among young people;
under-25s are seeing the choices of jobs limited due to costs of training, clothing or commuting... yet one more way that the #Tories have found to reserve the best jobs & careers for the children of the middle-class...
If it sounds like classwar & has effects like classwar, then (for my money).... it is #classwar!
Emeritus Prof Christopher May