Somebody told me there is poverty in Birmingham.

[brian54]

A few weeks ago somebody else told me I am the only  person not to have £5,000,000 in Birmingham.

[Traveller]

Well there you have it.  If you don't have £5m,  by Brummie standards, you must be in Poverty.

[Diasi]

There must be an element of fact because it's not the first person to say this to Brian.

[Scrumpy]

I bought a bottle of wine this morning at the local Co-op.  I am making risotto today and I prefer wine as the liquid .
 Why did I feel guilty..!! It was 8:45 and there were many mothers and children in the store.. I felt like a desperate wine drinker..

[Diasi]

I bought a bottle of wine this morning at the local Co-op.  I am making risotto today and I prefer wine as the liquid .
Why did I feel guilty..!! It was 8:45 and there were many mothers and children in the store.. I felt like a desperate wine drinker..

Well so long as your hands weren't shaking when you were paying for it you should have been ok.

[Scrumpy]

I have them under control.. It's the  talking rubbish that needs a bit of help.

[StephenM123]

Obviously Birmingham pensions are higher than London ones. That's where you got it wrong Brian!

[brian54]

Obviously Birmingham pensions are higher than London ones. That's where you got it wrong Brian!

I thought StephenM123 has £20,000,000.

[brian54]

Well so long as your hands weren't shaking when you were paying for it you should have been ok.

You must be rich to use wine for cooking.

[Traveller]

You're lucky.  We can't buy alcohol before 10 am.  On the other hand, we don't have Sunday trading laws as such, so if I run out on Sunday  evening I could always nip into Tesco until 10pm.

[xetog]

Poverty is an icon of left wing thinkers.  Poverty can mean many things as against extreme poverty which can mean the inability to sustain life.  Poverty as measured by think tanks is really the inability to keep up with the lifestyle of your peers.  Without a yardstick to say how it is measured the term poverty is meaningless as is slyly pointed out by Brian.  If I don't have the basic funds to provide food and a roof over my head then I might be in poverty, but if I have the funds and decide to spend them keeping up with my vision of my needs am I not simply needy?


I understand £247 per week is considered the level at which poverty kicks in, although I am not clear whether this is per person or per family.  If it is per person then most pensioners would seem to be living in poverty.


Mike.X

[Diasi]

Poverty is an icon of left wing thinkers.  Poverty can mean many things as against extreme poverty which can mean the inability to sustain life.  Poverty as measured by think tanks is really the inability to keep up with the lifestyle of your peers.  Without a yardstick to say how it is measured the term poverty is meaningless as is slyly pointed out by Brian.  If I don't have the basic funds to provide food and a roof over my head then I might be in poverty, but if I have the funds and decide to spend them keeping up with my vision of my needs am I not simply needy?

I understand £247 per week is considered the level at which poverty kicks in, although I am not clear whether this is per person or per family.  If it is per person then most pensioners would seem to be living in poverty.

Mike.X

You're right, poverty today means that you have a Samsung Galaxy 9 & not a 10, & your 5 kids don't each have a smartphone & tablet.

If that happens you need to get an ADHD or an Aspergers diagnosis for a couple of the kids.

[brian54]

You're right, poverty today means that you have a Samsung Galaxy 9 & not a 10, & your 5 kids don't each have a smartphone & tablet.

If that happens you need to get an ADHD or an Aspergers diagnosis for a couple of the kids.

I only have a Samsung Galaxy J6.

[Michael Rolls]

Poverty is an icon of left wing thinkers.  Poverty can mean many things as against extreme poverty which can mean the inability to sustain life.  Poverty as measured by think tanks is really the inability to keep up with the lifestyle of your peers.  Without a yardstick to say how it is measured the term poverty is meaningless as is slyly pointed out by Brian.  If I don't have the basic funds to provide food and a roof over my head then I might be in poverty, but if I have the funds and decide to spend them keeping up with my vision of my needs am I not simply needy?


I understand £247 per week is considered the level at which poverty kicks in, although I am not clear whether this is per person or per family.  If it is per person then most pensioners would seem to be living in poverty.


Mike.X

Very true - and the official definition of poverty is rubbish. It's a percentage of the average income - so if the average income goes up, somebody who was a bit above the previous percentage goes from not being in poverty to being in poverty - how sensible is that? Nothing has changed for the individual.
Mike

[brian54]

Poverty is an icon of left wing thinkers.  Poverty can mean many things as against extreme poverty which can mean the inability to sustain life.  Poverty as measured by think tanks is really the inability to keep up with the lifestyle of your peers.  Without a yardstick to say how it is measured the term poverty is meaningless as is slyly pointed out by Brian.  If I don't have the basic funds to provide food and a roof over my head then I might be in poverty, but if I have the funds and decide to spend them keeping up with my vision of my needs am I not simply needy?




I understand £247 per week is considered the level at which poverty kicks in, although I am not clear whether this is per person or per family.  If it is per person then most pensioners would seem to be living in poverty.


Mike.X

Part of my job was to go through income in retirement when employees were getting to the end of their working lives. I don't remember a case where anybody had less than £280 a week company plus their state pension.
Oddly I noticed one employee had worked for the GEC and we made enquiries and he was entitled to £130 a month. That was enough to fill his car with petrol every month plus a bit more.
He wanted to give me £500 which I did not accept. We did go out to lunch and the bill came to over £70.