Research by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) think tank says the most disadvantaged are no better off than they were 15 years ago. It warns of a widening gap between the haves and have nots.
“The UK is in danger of sliding back into the ‘Two Nations’ of the Victorian era marked by a widening gulf between mainstream society and a depressed and poverty-stricken underclass.”
Just like the Victorian era, the underlying cause is the same: the capitalist class is seeking to exploit the working class to an ever greater degree and that’s driving people into deprivation and illness.
One of the key factors of poverty that the Centre for Social Justice report lists is housing. Our for profit housing system has created a situation where people are both unable to get social housing and unable to put down a deposit to buy their own home. As a result, 4.6 million people (19 percent of the population) live in expensive private rentals.
Since the Thatcher government abolished rent controls in 1988, the percentage of people in private rentals has more than doubled. For those renting, it’s not uncommon to spend over 30 percent of your income on rent. That’s compared to the 16.4 percent of income that the average homeowner pays for their mortgage.
Another of the main factors listed as responsible for the increasing wealth gap is the poor quality of work available for the most deprived. Work is often financially unrewarding due to stagnant wages and insecure employment.
Both these factors are the natural result of capitalism. Businesses continually try to cut costs in order to outcompete each other, and the easiest way to cut costs is to exploit workers to a greater degree. The business which pays its workers the least and has fewer commitments to its employees is generally going to come out on top.
The report also highlights the fact that violent crime is pervasive in British society. This isn’t surprising, as research shows that societies with greater inequality have higher rates of violent crime.
All in all, the effects of this entrenched inequality on society make all of us less safe and keep the most marginalized millions of us in brutal living conditions.
The way to solve this is to replace the system that incentivizes these behaviors. As long as businesses are run for profit they will always have an incentive to exploit their workers more. As long as the housing market is run for profit, those with enough money to buy property will always have the incentive to squeeze as much rent as possible out of everyone else.
It’s time for us to replace our for profit system with socialism. Together, we can build an economy that’s planned rationally and run for our collective wellbeing.
