Data doodling – UK - circling the drain of its welfare state, whilst neglecting the elderly

_{The UK has suffered from decades of mismanagement by its politicians, in much the same way that other countries have. Persistent fiscal deficits have accumulated into mountains of debt = close to 100% of GDP (more in the US and PIIGS in the EU – Japan has the highest government debt to GDP and cannot afford ay growth or inflation).}

_{The interest bill for this 100% debt /GDP ratio is equal to the rate set by central banks. Japan avoids the issue by setting a zero interest rate (remember those Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) and even Negative Interest Rate Policy (NIRP) prescriptions by central banks and the purchase of the government debt by central banks to “bail-out” government fiscal deficits in the face of a perceived “deflation” threat from the “Great Financial Crisis” of 2007-2009?}

_{Deflation is desperately needed today to return prices to pre-scamdemic levels, but instead prices are not reducing to pre-scamdemic levels, they are increasing as the costs of “net zero” policies are working their way through the entire supply chain of whole economies.}

_{Fiscal deficits are the inevitable consequence of big socialist governments – it is a feature, not a bug. A complete cultural change is required to create the fiscal surpluses and so reduce government debt and the interest burden from that debt.}

_{An interest burden from government debt to GDP of 100% with a 5% borrowing rate is – drum roll – 5%. Now compared that to the tax burden as a percentage of GDP.}

_{List of sovereign states by tax revenue to GDP ratio - Wikipedia}

_{A little out of date (2021 data) which shows the UK ratio as 27% and the US as 12%.}

_{Using a 5% cost for 100% debt to GDP, which means that the UK is spending almost a fifth of its taxes on interest alone. The last Biden budget showed 5 trillion in Federal tax receipts and GDP of 25 trillion = 20% tax to GDP).}

_{(56) A quick look at Resident Biden’s election campaign track record – compared to pre C19 expectations under President Trump – all about the interest on Federal and consumer debt slowly destroying the US!}

_{UK numbers have increased to record levels recently. Check out the chart here:}

_{Tax revenue as a share of national income over time | Institute for Fiscal Studies}

_{This is the “tax” part of the Marxist “tax and spend” mantra. If tax increases had been used to repay debt, that is one thing. The UK Labour government is spending the tax increases on “net zero” BS, and building houses for illegal immigrants, instead of returning these beggars to the first safe country entered by the illegal immigrants in accordance with international law.}

_{Thees immigrant beggars just add to levels of poverty, pay no taxes and further put the nation into debt to pay for their “needs”.}

_{The key logic failures in the “net zero” policy is that the UK as a whole cannot afford them and secondly, the oldest, poorest and sickest in particular can afford them even less.}

_{So much for formulating policies within the welfare state that provide a social safety net. Successive UK governs have targeted the most vulnerable for decades – governments of all stripes.}

_{This is what bungling incompetence and profligate spending looks like.}

_{Let’s check out some current hardship metrics.}

_{Poverty in the UK (all data extracted using Brave AI unless otherwise stated):}

_{“… poverty is commonly defined using a relative income measure. According to the Child Poverty Act 2010, poverty is defined as a household income below 60% of the median income.”}

_{“The median household disposable income in the UK was £34,500 in the financial year ending 2023, which is a decrease of 2.5% from the previous year. The median household disposable income for the poorest fifth of the population increased by 2.3% to £16,400, partly due to government cost of living support measures. However, this figure remains 2.4% below the levels seen in 2020 before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.”}

_{£16,400 for the poorest in the country. Household disposable income is after tax, but before indirect taxes like VAT which can be 20% on some items (5% for food). There are also exorbitant customs and excise duties on alcohol and tobacco, plus special taxes on tv (annual license fee), road usage and petrol.}

_{How many UK people live at or below the poverty level of 60% of median household income? (The population of the UK is around 68 million – the population of England and Wales is around 60 million).}

_{“According to recent data, approximately 14 million people in the UK live in poverty. This figure represents around 21% of the UK population. Here are some key points regarding poverty in the UK:}

_{· Poverty Rate: In 2022/23, 18% of people in the UK were in absolute low income after housing costs, which is a measure of poverty.}

_{· Food Insecurity: The number of people living in food insecure households increased by around 2.5 million between 2021/22 and 2022/23, reaching 7.2 million people, or 11% of the population.}

_{The UK has 28 million households.}

_{Let’s throw in a few more numbers on the minimum wage, state pension amount and number of people who only receive state pension in retirement.}

_{“Minimum wage for those 21 and above: £12.21 per hour.”}

_{Assuming 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year (an hour for lunch and four weeks a year paid by the employer), that works out at a minimum annual wage of around £25,000 a year.}

_{State pension:}

_{“Total Population Aged 65+: The total number of people aged 65 and above in England and Wales is over 11 million, representing a substantial portion of the population.” (Note that is out of around 60 million people in England and Wales = 18% or so, close to one in five).}

_{“The full rate of the new State Pension in the UK is £221.20 per week for the tax year 2024-2025. “}

_{That works out at £11,502 pounds a year, compare that to the annual minimum wage of £25,000 a year!}

_{The “full rate” is payable if you have paid National Insurance (NI) every year of your working life – it reduces by the number of years you did not pay NI.}

_{How many people rely solely on the UK State pension?}

_{“… 41% of people expect to have a bad retirement income, which could indicate that a substantial number of individuals are living on only the state pension. However, the specific number of people living exclusively on the state pension is not directly stated in the available data.”}

_{Let’s make a leap and assume it’s half that 41% number – call it 20% - that only have the State pension to retire on - and that 20% of the population of 60 million of England and Wales are in retirement.}

_{12 million retirees, of which 2,4 million have only the State pension and are living in poverty (as defined by income of below 60% of median household income).}

_{2.4 million people in England and Wales.}

_{To further emphasize what this looks like for these elderly people, consider this.}

_{“Average Monthly Dual Fuel Cost for Smaller Households: £108 for households with lower energy usage.”}

_{“… conservative estimate of around £182 per month, excluding food from restaurants and takeaways.”}

_{Food and energy alone cost £290 a month, compared to the monthly State pension of £958 a month!}

_{The balance of £668 a month has to cover all other expenses like local authority rates (£60-100 a month), TV license fees of £14 pounds a month, repairs, clothes, dry cleaning, any pets etc – don’t eve think about a couple of nights a week in a pub, or (heaven forbid) ten pounds a day on a 20-a-day smoking habit! Think very carefully about a meal in a store to break up a weekly shopping trip and discard any thoughts of running a petrol car!}

Cell phones and broadband? Minimal subscriptions!

_{“ … the average cost to run a car in the UK for 2024 is £3,834 per year. “}

_{Now put all that in the context of massive spending on “net zero” and the mandating of EV’s – plus the massive spending (I guesstimate 2 million immigrant beggars costing £25,000 each a year = 50 billion pounds a year) and the cost of servicing national debt run up by inept and corrupt politicians!}

_{You can model numbers like these for any country, but especially those in the US, EU PIIGS, Canada, NZ, Australia and Japan, which have high debt burdens.}

_{“Progressive” socialist policies will dominate – and they only create poverty, hardship and ignorance by diverting resources away from areas of most need to “quack” ideas by narcissistic child minds.}

_Onwards!!!

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