Off Topic UK / EU Future

Germany's hidden hunger: On the breadline in Europe's richest .

..Germany′s food pantries struggle to meet rising demand | News | DW ...


Food bank use tiny compared with Germany, says minister - BBC News

 

... The sad results of Govts of the right..... they dont care enough for their own

 

You sound a bit of a globetrotter

 

The headline 'On the breadline in Europe's richest country' reflects a common misconception about Germany. It is not Europe's richest country, and standards of living here have never been as high as in Scandinavia, Switzerland or the Netherlands. The gulf between rich and poor is growing - almost to British proportions, and the country is becoming known as the wage dumping capital of the EU. Nothing to be proud about, and it is the lack of spending power in Germany which is at the root of many European problems - namely it cannot act as an effective market for Southern European products. This is the price of being an export orientated country. It may however be that Germany is being more honest about such figures - how many food banks are there in Britain ?

 

http://www.theweek.co.uk/93144/food-bank-use-in-uk-at-record-high

Take any source and the stats are pretty damning.... This Govt. has done little for the poor.... a 52% increase in the use of foodbanks where universal credit has been rolled out etc etc

 

Figures from the Trussel Trust show that in the year to March 2018, 1,332,952 three-day emergency food supplies were delivered to people in crisis across the UK – a 13 per cent increase on last year. This charity is about 46% of those doing similar work. So you could say that 2.5 million across the UK have been given out. This of course doesn't count the actual numbers of people who are helped as many food packs cater for families. The figures for France suggest that 1.8 million people were supported with food parcels, although many of those would receive them in the form of cooked meals.
Many charities across Europe are very small, set up to help people in local areas, so no one can say with any certainty how much support is handed out in any country. The Trussel Trust deals with people who are referred by DWP etc, but many others do not wait for a referral.
Whatever country you wish to compare with another, it is a blot on the lack of a proper system that ensures that people can feed their families.

 

Given that we are one of the most affluent countries in the world.. how can our govts let such things happen....???

 

It doesn't really matter how much we compare countries - one person having to beg is too many for an affluent country. Maybe Denmark does not have this problem, but I am not sure. Most countries also have large regional differences. Comparing the Federal states of Germany the highest percentages of people claiming welfare of any kind are in Berlin, where 15.2% of families are on some kind of welfare, Bremen 13.8% and Hamburg 10.6% - these are the 3 City States of Germany. Elsewhere Bavaria has only 3.9% of families in this catagory, NRW has 8.1% - nowhere in the former West Germany is in double figures on this, yet all of the states in the former East Germany are. Incomes in the former East Germany are at about 70% of the West German levels. In many ways it is clear that Germany needed time for itself to fully integrate the former East Germany successfully without having to worry about being any kind of leader in Europe in the meantime, but history didn't allow this.

 

Interesting we saw very little begging throughout our Balkan trip.... and these are poor countries

 

They are all in London....

 

<yawn> how sad that this is all you can post......

 

You seem to do a lot of yawning, maybe you should go to bed a little earlier.

 

Sadly it is because of people like you we have so much poverty and racism....

You are a racist

 

Fair play Cologne these figures surprised me and bears out what you have been saying for ages that the average German does not benefit greatly from the excessive trade surpluses Germany continues to enjoy. When Trump starts his trade war with the 27 EU members next year it will be the people that will suffer even more.

 

I read recently that the number of children born into poverty in Germany in 1965 was one in 75 - in 2015 it was one in six. Obviously we do not know how that is calculated, and 'poverty lines' can be arbitrary, but the difference between the two figures is alarming. The difference is that in 1965 they were in the middle of the German economic miracle and, German products were mostly being bought by German consumers, and so it was necessary to have a large spending power at the base of the pyramid - now it isn't.

 

No you are blind to fact and reason and just peddle your bigotry and prejudice.....

and i guess you are still in the playground in the corner on your own dreaming up the little wind-ups.... that in the real world would get what they deserve.... well done little man....

I am now putting you and your nasty comments on ignore... maybe others will have more success with you....

 

Are you now saying the gig at the pub is off?

 

The Brexit talks between the UK and the EU are becoming more defined. The PM has ceased backsliding and has firmly laid down some ground rules.

There will be no second referendum.
There will be no extension to talks.
The EU's stated position on the Irish border is unacceptable.

A no deal is looking increasingly unlikely unless the EU shows a little more common sense and concentrates more on the issues than trying to make the UK an example to others.

 

Let me think about what is happening shortly. Oh yes, it is the Tory party conference. Cannot say anything yet to upset the party members. Meanwhile the true workhorses on both sides continue to work towards a form of words that will produce the offer of some sort of deal. Seeing as there is now little dispute that remain voters are in the majority, it shouldn't be too difficult for the population to accept something that looks very similar to what currently exists.