Today the headlines in the UK have been blaring the news that wages have risen ahead of inflation for the first time in six years. Amazing! Astounding! Hope! ACTUALLY hold on for a minute, what is that I read? A little comment saying that if bonus payments are not counted, then wages have not really risen ahead of inflation.
By definition, this means that wages have not risen ahead of inflation as wages are fixed, whereas bonus payments are not. Right? How do you view bonuses? As a luxury or as an expected form of income? It depends on the job I guess which brings me to my next point.
Exactly for who have wages risen ahead of inflation? I certainly haven’t experienced any rise but then again I am a student and work part time so I don’t really count right? Why not? Am I not working and providing a service? What about the millions of others on minimum wage jobs when they do not deserve to be? These are the forgotten masses. It is thought that once a person has a job, all is well and good. What do students even need money for is what many politicans ask.
I remember my teacher describing how college students campaigned against the educational maintenance allowance (EMA) from being cut and when they went to Parliament to lobby MPs, one responded by saying all you spend it on is booze! The irony being the majority of the students were Muslims and so had not had a drop of ‘booze’ in their life. They and others, spent their EMA on essentials with one even being forced due to her circumstances on using it to pay for the gas bill. This reluctance to help those who are in need is a common occurrence in the UK system. The government seeks a top down approach to improving the economy as they aid multi-national companies by decreasing corporation tax in the belief that it will result in more jobs. Yes by all means it does but this does not mean these jobs will be well payed and sufficient. The standards for some jobs have risen dramatically in recent years due to the greater number of people with degrees. This has caused an inflation in requirements which is a good way to describe it as many jobs do not require degrees to perform them. Yet they ask for it as they have the luxury to as there is an excess supply in the workforce which means those who do not have a degree or are curently studying yet are more than capable, are left to suffer at the bottom.
So when there is a declaration of wages rising ahead of inflation, it usually means the rich are getting richer, the ones in the middle have seen a slight improvement and those at the bottom continue to wallow in their pit of despair.
A WORRIED STUDENT 