Frankie Langland
It was no shock when it was reported recently that living standards had fallen to the lowest levels in a decade.
As a young health worker I was even less shocked to discover that once again it is young people who are being hit the hardest, with the average income for a worker in their 20s remaining stagnant for the past six years.
In fact for the thousands of young people, like myself, who are employed by the public sector, a very noticeable cut has been made to our wages.
Over the past 12 months I have seen a loss of £2,000 to my income, which as a band three Health Care Assistant brings me to just above minimum wage.
Struggle
Everyday life is becoming more and more of a struggle. In my community there is a noticeable increase in homelessness, alcoholism and drug use.
Last Friday a 17 year old boy was stabbed to death; on the bus home the other day a man was smoking crack quite blatantly on the top deck; and when I go down to do my weekly shop the streets I walk smell of urine.
Many people will be able to relate to this day-to-day life. We budget until we’re blue in the face but it’s still not enough, stuck in overdrafts which bite away at our wages a bit more each month, living in mould ridden flats which we can barely afford the rent on.
It’s no surprise that there has been a steep rise in young people reporting mental health issues – one in ten young people now say they can’t cope.
Anger is definitely the theme for this recession. Things that I used to be able to accept and walk away from now make me shake with rage.
I used to make jokes about the rubbish politicians said on the telly but now I want to throw things – they’re not playing a game, they’re playing with our lives!
All in it together?
This isn’t about them trying to get us out of a recession, and we are definitely not all in this together! This is a politically motivated attack on public services (which are needed more in times of hardship, not less!) and us, the working class. We all know the Tories are the party for the millionaires, they always have been.
Working class people are the ones feeling the brunt of these cuts. We are the majority and we have to fight to save our services and communities.
United strike action will link all of our power. They’re hitting us where it hurts, let’s hit them where it hurts them, and fight for our future!
