Why the poor don't move

[MyUserName]

I am from one of the ex mining towns in the valleys. The one thing I realised when I was a teenager was I had to GTFO ASAP if I wanted to ever get a job or have any kind of decent life. Hence I became the first person in my family to go to university and then took a loan out to set myself up with a job in South England and then started working.

I hated it, I did not know anyone for about a hundred mile and could not afford to take trips home but I knew full well that my alternative was going back to the valleys and probably never getting out. Hence I worked hard.

Simples.

[Mich the Tester]

Who makes this investment - the government or the private sector?

Assuming it is the government, I wonder what would happen in this regard if the government didn't make that investment. Would the private sector choose to make the investment instead, and would the country be as successful, or more or less so?

German industrial investment is not a purely private or public thing; the German states put a lot of investment into industrial infrastructure and education geared toward the big industrial companies; they work together a lot. In fact, that's one key factor in German success; government works with business, employers and unions work together (mostly) for common goals, education is sufficiently independent to emphasize culture and a kid's development while developing practical training alongside businesses.

[doodab]

Good idea - where are we going to send them?

Well, where do we expect them to move to? Lets send them there.

This does appear to be something that's overlooked. If loads of people move to our cities for work, we're just going to have even greater strain on housing, schools and hospitals. If people are getting upset about a few hundred thousand Poles or Romanians what's going to happen when a couple of million bumpkins rock up looking for a job?

[Mich the Tester]

I am from one of the ex mining towns in the valleys. The one thing I realised when I was a teenager was I had to GTFO ASAP if I wanted to ever get a job or have any kind of decent life. Hence I became the first person in my family to go to university and then took a loan out to set myself up with a job in South England and then started working.

I hated it, I did not know anyone for about a hundred mile and could not afford to take trips home but I knew full well that my alternative was going back to the valleys and probably never getting out. Hence I worked hard.

Simples.

...and I bet you don't go back very often. My dad goes back to Merseyside only once in a blue moon to visit his sister who's done fine as a school headmistress and lives on the Wirral, but go back to the estate he came from? Never.

[doodab]

I am from one of the ex mining towns in the valleys. The one thing I realised when I was a teenager was I had to GTFO ASAP if I wanted to ever get a job or have any kind of decent life. Hence I became the first person in my family to go to university and then took a loan out to set myself up with a job in South England and then started working.

I hated it, I did not know anyone for about a hundred mile and could not afford to take trips home but I knew full well that my alternative was going back to the valleys and probably never getting out. Hence I worked hard.

Simples.

Similar tale here, except I was lucky enough that all my friends from uni had moved to London too, so we had a whale of a time.

[Old Hack]

I'm from a small West Country town, and the attitude to hang around and take what you could was prevalent. I knew, pretty quickly, that to stay was to commit suicide, as such, so left for the smoke, and beyond. Father was attached to NATO so we moved a lot as kids, so it felt natural anyway.

I rarely go back, but whenever I do, I am reminded what a good move I made back in the early 80's

[BoredBloke]

You could also argue that if a large proportion of the populace needs to travel 200 miles to work that this reduces productivity, places unnecessary strain on infrastructure and has a negative effect on their health and their children's health and education.

It's all very well saying get on your bike but just saying get on your bike doesn't work, and when this is allowed to happen on a grand scale, resulting in huge bills for the rest of us, then at some point you have to stop blaming individuals and hold the government to account for decades of taking the easy option and persisting with policies that clearly aren't working.....

You could argue that but you'd be wrong. The point is Move!! I have not moved because the rate I earn means that I can commute and we can stay where we are with the friends and family that we have in place. But if it meant that I couldn't afford to do that then rather than sit on my arse, claiming benefits and moaning about the lack of jobs - from a seat in a pub with a glass of lager in my hand, as in the show, we, as a family, would up sticks to a place that could/would provide me with work. There are plenty of parts of the UK that have been blighted by the lack of jobs etc, I live in one of them.

[MyUserName]

...and I bet you don't go back very often. My dad goes back to Merseyside only once in a blue moon to visit his sister who's done fine as a school headmistress and lives on the Wirral, but go back to the estate he came from? Never.

Too right - before I started a family hear I went back once or twice a year to visit my mother (mother's day and Christmas), now I only ever go back to pick her up and bring her here.

[Platypus]

OK, I didn't actually know what this was. Now I do.

In what way is this a "reality show" ?

[Mich the Tester]

Too right - before I started a family hear I went back once or twice a year to visit my mother (mother's day and Christmas), now I only ever go back to pick her up and bring her here.

Yep, and I certainly wouldn't blame you, but do you see how this affects those areas? The smart people get up and leave or make a success of life and then move to a smarter area never come back, so the example they could set to others is never seen. Perhaps councils shoud look at engaging people who've done well to spend some time 'back home' influencing local young people; it would of course need financial incentives, but could help. Thing is, how would a council explain paying good money to a (comparitively) rich bloke when they are expected to spend money on those who are struggling in the area?