Cost of living crisis
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In the UK 12 million people were in absolute poverty at the height of the cost of living crisis – equivalent to 18% of the population, including 3.6 million children.
The latest figures show food insecurity rose dramatically, up from 4.7 million people (7%) in 2021-22 to 7.2 million (11%) in 2022-23. Food bank use is also up, with 3.4% of all UK households saying they had accessed charity food in the past 12 months, a figure that rises to 10% of households in poverty.
The UN defines absolute poverty as being deprived of food, clean water, sanitation, shelter, education and information(eh?). You will find evidence of this in places like Afsponistan and suchlike, but the claim that it can be found here is laughable. The famished kiddies going to school without having brekkie can be seen gawping at smartphones ( no lack of info there). Some working-class folk simply don’t know how to manage what they have or their priorities are all wrong ( e.g. using National Assistance monies to fund holidays abroad ).
Poverty is defined as being a member of the working class. Absolute and relative poverty is defined according to the level of economical development of a country or world region. In the USA poverty level is measure according to the income and the level of poverty is $15,060.00 per year which is above the income of many countries in the so called third world
According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which tracks the number of households in financial difficulties, 5.8 million people reported that they were struggling to pay a large bill in February 2020.
The data, which gives an insight into the UK’s personal finances, showed that by January 2023 the number of people in financial difficulties almost doubled to 10.9 million.
So will those people stick with capitalism? You bet they will!
Octopus Energy inform me that they’re cutting prices from July 1: around £122 a year for a typical home.
All grist to the mill! 🙂
The normal working of the law of supply and demand that regulates short-term market prices. Ironically, if the incoming Labour government succeeds in stimulating growth or, more likely, if growth happens spontaneously, then gas prices will go up again.
“The slump in Europe’s energy markets has already filtered through to homes. In the UK, the regulator Ofgem’s energy price cap, which sets the maximum price that suppliers can charge per unit of gas or electricity, fell by £238 to £1,690 for the typical annual dual-fuel bill earlier this week – its lowest for two years.
“But lower prices alone are not enough to articulate the end of the energy crisis,” according to Marzec-Manser. “There’s a wider economic picture to consider.”
The recent fall in market prices is in part due to the economic gloom caused by the energy crisis itself, he says. Rising energy bills have triggered inflation across major economies, leading to a cost of living crisis that has slowed consumer demand for new products.
This in turn has reduced economic activity across Europe’s industrial heartlands, and has kept a lid on gas demand from heavy industry. Marzec-Manser expects industrial gas demand to remain 20% below pre-pandemic levels this year.
“Even though gas is more affordable there is still a diminished demand for products due to the cost of living crisis, which means industrial gas demand has not yet recovered,” he says.
A rebound in industrial demand would prevent gas prices from falling to pre-pandemic lows and serve to underline Europe’s growing reliance on more expensive sources of gas.”So what!?
I’m still puzzled at what you think the relevance of this is to anything?
More money to spend on other things, obviously!
Jayzus, you people are fucking clueless.
I was asking more about how you thought this is connected to your more general claims about the impossibility of achieving socialism and the futility of even trying. The fact that the price of gas has temporarily fallen doesn’t seem to be here or there.
Im still puzzled at what you think the relevance of this is to anything?
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More money to spend on other things, obviously!Jayzus, you people are fucking clueless.
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So more money is available to be spent on other things. Which means the market demand for other things increases. Which means, all things being equal, the price of other things increases….yeah?
Or alternatively, the downward pressure exerted by capital on wages increases bringing the latter into line with the value of labour-power
Despite what Lizzie45 thinks, there is no such thing as a free lunch under capitalism. Workers have to struggle to hold on to their share of the social product and if her dismal view of the potential for working-class militancy is correct, that does not augur well for their future economic prospects under capitalism.
I was asking more about how you thought this is connected to your more general claims about the impossibility of achieving socialism and the futility of even trying.
As the OP of this thread observed – The working class nowadays compares itself with its ancestors and shrugs its shoulders and says “It’s not that bad now”
And having a reduction in living costs will confirm that view and thus help maintain the status quo.
Despite what Lizzie45 thinks, there is no such thing as a free lunch under capitalism. Workers have to struggle to hold on to their share of the social product and if her dismal view of the potential for working-class militancy is correct, that does not augur well for their future economic prospects under capitalism.
Probably true. Imagining a brave new world is all fine and dandy but workers will understandably remain suspicious of solutions that sound fantastical. Which is why they continue to reject outfits like the SPGB.
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