Stupid Question Or Not?

[TWR]

Is there poverty in this Country?

[Peter Pedant]

Yup
No I dont think it depends on how you define poverty

UNLESS you define poverty as something that doesnt occur in the UK

how MUCH poverty is there in the country ? does depend on how you define or more accurately the level at which you define poverty starts


and yes, TWR the poor will always be with us

[EDDIE51]

yes.

[TWR]

Hi Gness / Tony, I sympathise with a lot that happen abroad Gness & I donate when I can, but to mean it's the Leaders of them country's that should sort that out, Food banks has increased in size from what the news tells us! before help is dished out from this or any UK Government, problems here should come first every time.

[tonyav]

I understand what you mean, TWR, charity begins at home !.

[ummmm]

And food banks are also used by people that have jobs.

[EDDIE51]

Very interesting graphs here, UK relative and absolute poverty over time
http://data.jrf.org.uk/data/relative-absolute-time/

[Sparkles62]

Yes there is poverty in this country but nowhere near the amount that we are led to believe.
We donate to various charities ( both local and national ) on a regular basis,
but refuse to donatr to the local food bank after watching people coming out with their bags/ boxes of food and trot off to the local pub, fag in one hand, expensive mobile in the other.
If they can afford to smoke and drink, but can't afford to eat, then they have their priorities wrong.

[sherrardk]

Yes there are people in poverty and people who can't manage on what they 'get', either due to priorities or inability to manage their money. When we lost everything we were temporarily in poverty (3 or 4 months) which had a knock on effect (eviction).

[ummmm]

I thought you had to have some sort of referral to use food banks?

[Fusion5]

I thought you had to be on benefits to use a foodbank.

I think there is hardship but not poverty.

[Sparkles62]

Been there and done that many years ago sherrard, very scary.
Luckily I just avoided the eviction with a consolidation loan from the bank.
I nearly killed myself by working 4 jobs to get myself back on an even keel, but i did it and the childeren were marvelous through all of it.

[sherrardk]

I think your doctor, health visitor, social worker, etc has to refer you and even then you only get to use the food bank a limited number of times. These sort of posts make me cross actually. They contain such sweeping generalisations, usually made by people who haven't been in that position. I know in the past I would probably have commented in the same vein, but until you have experienced certain things you have no idea. (And please, don't start banging on about rationing, etc.)

[Ken4155]

TWR "If you want work you will find it." Really?

In her column in today's Sunday Express, Kirsty Buchanan - sorry i cannot do links - talks of the supposed tumbling unemployment figures and above inflation take home pay. Within the article, there is a photo of a certain Heather Davies who has been lucky enough to secure employment with a well known coffee house. a position for which there were 1,700 applicants!

[sandyRoe]

A single person would get about £60 a week on benefits, a couple about £110. There'd be no 50" televisions or foreign holidays bought on that sort of money.

[ummmm]

It's the press that lump together HB and CTB and the readers think that benefit claimants get that amount in hard cash.

£60 to eat and pay all bills?