The Idiocy of Goverments
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Just flicking through BBC News and came across this. The sentence that made me go
was this:The Home Office said the rules would help reduce demand for migrant labour.My immediate reaction was and still is: No it won't!
Because those that employ migrant workers will just go and get a new load of migrant workers and leave the previous lot as, now, criminalised illegal immigrants that it (the Government) will have to then sort out.
Now I do feel for the NHS and similar large scale and genuine employers of migrant workers. But the reasons why the Government are doing this are targeting a different sort of migrant worker - ones where they would be lucky to earn the minimum wages. The ones that the public are actually aggrieved about. The ones that that exploit them.
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TRWTF is the BBC and whatever prompts them to allow "comments" on news stories. Obviously, they haven't in this case - they have just asked for the "...have you been affected by this story..." thing. Otherwise I would be commenting there.
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Yeah, here (Spain) it's becoming also an issue because many nurses migrated to the UK after lots of job openings and a serious recruitment effort made by the NHS.
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A new pay threshold for migrants means non-European workers will have to leave the UK after six years if they are not earning at least £35,000.
Spain isn't in Europe?
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Isn't 35,000 quid, like, quite a bunch of money by the UK standards? Not "filthy rich", but like "upper middle class"?
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I wouldn't go so far as to say 'upper' middle class, but £35kpa is certainly a respectable salary
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I wouldn't go so far as to say 'upper' middle class, but £35kpa is certainly a respectable salary
I wouldn't go so far as to say 'upper' middle class, but £35kPa is certainly a respectable salary
Not really worth the pressure, imo.
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Go figure (I'm in the 8th decile):
[UK incomes: how does your salary compare?][1]
Nb You will note from the URL that the article is 15 months old, but it was in the top 5 google results for *UK average income"
[1]: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/mar/25/uk-incomes-how-salary-compare
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What's interesting there is that they're talking about household income. So two earners vs single earners. Presumably children are a big filter on age (at the beginning and the end).
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Oh hey, Polish average salary is just a sliver above the bottom decile.
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How does cost of living compare?
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From my experience - Poland has much cheaper apartments and housing, usually somewhat cheaper groceries and stuff, and most "luxury" items like books, CDs, electronics, etc. are pretty much comparable and occasionally cheaper in the UK.
I might be wrong here, but I'm fairly certain it doesn't make up for lower wages.
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I might be wrong here, but I'm fairly certain it doesn't make up for lower wages.
I wouldn't have though so, but still enough of a difference to make direct comparisons difficult. It's bad enough just looking at different places in the US.
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It is, isn't. I wanted to try and encapsulate as much information as possible in one resource, admittedly I didn't look for very long.
What is also interesting that salaries, and subsequently income, is dependant on geographical location. I moved 150 miles north and got a role with a salary a couple of £K less than what I was earning down south. But because the cost of living @Maciejasjmj is considerable less up north than it is down south. I profit, relatively speaking. If I saved up all my salary for one year, I could buy a 3 bedroomed house - cash. And it would be in a decent area.
Also, @Maciejasjmj People reading other topics may begin to realise why there is a migration of the old Eastern Block counties to the UK. As they can earn a decent wage here, and still have enough to send home to make things considerably better there for their families.
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but still enough of a difference to make direct comparisons difficult
I blame the common currency. Prior to that, the cost of living and salaries in the local currency could be roughly compared across counties when expressed as a percentage. 20 years ago in Portugal, because that was when I was last there, A packet of locally produced cigarettes was a 0.35 Escudos. A pack of local cigarettes in the UK £2.50. The exchange rate at the time was approximately 230 Escudo to the Pound Sterling.
Now 1 Euro is 1 Euro across Europe, and what does it buy in each country?
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Now 1 Euro is 1 Euro across Europe, and what does it buy in each country?
I dunno...cheese and wine, mostly?
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cigarettes
Bad comparison. Cigarette prices are totally out of whack in most countries, and you'd probably arrive at the conclusion that Kazakhstan is the most awesome place to live in.
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It's not helped by the different rates of tax different countries place on them either
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BBC is British. People in Britain like to think they're not in Europe. No fucking clue where they think they are (Atlantis?). But I've noticed that pattern a lot over the years.
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@Maciejasjmj. Yes it is a poor and isolated example, and with the validity of @RaceProUK observation, doubly so.
I could have chosen alcohol, petrol or been more politically correct by choosing bead. But, at the end of the day, in my immediate environment (mainly cos I don't drink socially, 'cos I'm sad / tight / mean - delete as appropriate), I am more concerned about the price of cigarettes than I am of the others.
On balance though these things tend to even out. It used to be that food and drink was cheap in France, and clothes and things expensive. So they would come here and empty M&S of their stock, and we would go there and bring back what we didn't drink,
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The Big Mac is actually used as a semi-serious index for this.
Our Big Mac index shows how burger prices are changing
In what countries is the ubiquitous meal cheapest—and dearest?
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People in Britain like to think they're not in Europe. No fucking clue where they think they are (Atlantis?).
You're spot on, and I have no idea where many of my countrymen think they are. Except for a few right-wing types who are obviously from Planet Zogtharble Gamma 7ξ.
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I wouldn't have though so, but still enough of a difference to make direct comparisons difficult. It's bad enough just looking at different places in the US.
Yeah -- I really wish people would stop playing the "compare the wages game" without taking cost of living into account.
(It's why I'm not a huge fan of Made in Mexico, for one -- atop the mess that is the gov't down there, and the drug cartels, the cost of living there is brutal from the information I've been able to obtain -- there are chunks of the US where I bet you could get cheaper labor...)
