More working people than ever are struggling to survive
Sinking, not swimming: Under the Conservatives, more and more people are failing to pay their way.
Terrifying new information from the Trade Union Congress has shown that millions of working people are struggling to survive due to poverty.
The TUC poll suggests 20 per cent of working people – one-fifth of the more-than-30-million-strong working population – skip meals because they can’t afford the food.
One in five workers go without heating during cold weather.
One in 10 fall into rent or mortgage arrears because they can’t pay on time.
And one in five have pawned or sold belongings because they needed the money.
Asked how they would deal with an unexpected £500 bill, 30 per cent said they would be unable to pay – up from 24 per cent in 2017. Of those who said they would pay, 24 per cent said they would have to go into debt or sell something.
A quarter said they were out of cash before the end of most months, and 16 per cent said they had to cut back their spending – or stop it altogether – many times a year.
And 41 per cent said one of their biggest concerns at work was the fact that their pay was not keeping up with the cost of living.
This is damning information that knocks the stuffing out of claims that wage rises are increasing faster than the rate of inflation. Is that still true after the top 10 per cent – or even one per cent – of earners are removed from the figures? For some reason, I couldn’t find that information when I looked for it.
I remember having arguments, years ago, with people who claimed heatedly that business bosses in the UK had to keep wages depressed because otherwise they would be forced to stop trading. I wonder how many of them live in luxury mansions while their employees struggle in bed-sits, converted shipping containers or office blocks, or are forced to sleep on the streets?
None of this will change for the better under a Conservative government – especially not under one run by Boris Johnson.
I wonder how many people realise this as they plough through their daily drudgery, their only source of information coming from BBC-approved propaganda that tells them Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour is unelectable?
Do any of them even realise they are being played for fools?
Source: Millions of working people struggle to put food on the table, poll shows
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
So much for the Tory mantra of “making work pay”, and the myth they constantly peddle about work being the best route out of poverty.
You’ve hit the nail on the head there about the top 10%, or even 1%, skewing the figures. This is a big problem when there is such disparity between the top few earners and the majority. The average wage is not what people “in the middle” earn, or what most people earn at all, a fact that is not understood by most people. I feel the same way about wage increases being awarded as a percentage of salary – a 1% increase for a top earner can equate to more in cash terms than the entire earnings of someone at the bottom, merely widening the gap.