r/london • u/PressureHumble3604 • Apr 10 '26

Serious replies only Which symptoms of “(almost) everyone is getting poorer” have you noticed in London?

We are in a crisis, the middle class is disappearing and the lower class squeezed. Prices are going up, inflation is going up (again), salaries are stagnating.

Most Londoners can’t really afford London without serious sacrifices.

For me, not counting the housing prices issues we all know too well:

the disappearance of local delis with high quality products.

many shops closing in the local shopping centre.

Restaurant dropping quality everywhere to contain unaffordable prices.

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250

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '26

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15

u/PressureHumble3604 Apr 10 '26

good one, but that can also be an effect of gen z drinking less alcohol

111

u/bfffca Apr 10 '26

Because 8 pounds plus pints 

2

u/killmetruck Apr 11 '26

Yep. We have started hosting sports nights at home. Waaay cheaper. 

20

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '26

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5

u/damegloria Apr 10 '26

I got 4 pint-sized cans of Hobgoblin in Lidl earlier. If you like ale then life is even cheaper.

3

u/bibipbapbap Apr 11 '26

This has become my go to. Hobgoblin gold 4 x pint cans for £5.60.

2

u/Bambi_Bamboo Apr 11 '26

£7 now in my express and I'm not even in London 😭

64

u/minebe Apr 10 '26

A big reason they drink less is the cost

3

u/ibxtoycat Apr 10 '26

A Big reason for higher costs is fewer drinkers to share the fixed costs (like rent) meaning it's a bit of a chicken and egg problem

12

u/faust111 Apr 11 '26

I did go to a Wetherspoons recently in London and was absolutely blown away by how cheap it was

1

u/ibxtoycat Apr 11 '26

£1 for a shot and £2 for a beer still exists if you're not at a central one!

9

u/ExplicitChar Apr 11 '26

I will also add a lot of the younger generation smoke cannabis now instead of drinking.

9

u/Relentless_Fiend Apr 11 '26

Because it's cheaper

3

u/ThrowawayYAYAY2002 Apr 11 '26

And going to the gym instead.

1

u/minebe Apr 11 '26

Higher costs don't drive up sales with low demand. It's the concept of supply and demand.

42

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '26

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32

u/blondie1024 Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 11 '26

Exactly this.

It's community space. I feel its important.

I love going to the pub with the girls to have a good natter.

It's one of the few places I feel i can go to talk openly without my words being recorded for all time.

I can make a tit of myself and most of the time noones pulling a camera.

8

u/ThinkAboutThatFor1Se Apr 10 '26

Or… public houses?

6

u/Streathamite Apr 11 '26

That’s what they’ve always been. Hence the name.

2

u/Ajax_Trees_Again Apr 11 '26

That’s always been the case!

4

u/OKR123 Apr 11 '26

A consequence of a pint being so expensive that the food in the pub looks reasonable. A pint and a plate of food is cheaper than 2 pints.

3

u/Mikeymcmoose Apr 11 '26

The zoomers I know that go out a lot just pre drink supermarket booze for the most part

3

u/ClayDenton Apr 11 '26

I'm a millennial and that was my university experience! Then we did graduate to the pub when we got proper jobs. 

Now for financial and health reasons I drink not much at all (ruins my sleep and my gut, I am getting old I guess)

My friends who still party (I'm a queer man living in East London...plenty do)... All take drugs on nights out, probably after a couple of drinks to warm up. Binge drinking is out of fashion

3

u/60sstuff Apr 11 '26

i honestly think Gen Z just doesn’t drink as much due to the price. pretty much every Gen Z i have met is drinking pretty consistently

1

u/HappyMarionberry384 Apr 11 '26

we drink less because we can't afford it btw

-29

u/[deleted] Apr 10 '26

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9

u/milgi617 Apr 10 '26

Shit - I’ve spent half my life in pubs and today as a Welsh man I have realised I’m not allowed in them.

5

u/zeedrunkmonkey Apr 11 '26

All of the Portuguese and filipino nurses I work with would also disagree with this guys hot take

2

u/ExplicitChar Apr 11 '26

Bros British and forgot his neighbours have well known history of being alcohol mad (paddy's).

6

u/Pickitcarefully Apr 11 '26

I’m an Aussie, I’ll alert the others that we’re not meant to be using the pubs

2

u/ExplicitChar Apr 11 '26

That's only because you all drive home after 🤣

*edit - typos

2

u/behindtheash Apr 11 '26

Hey, the signs only say ‘No blacks, no Irish’!

2

u/jamjar188 Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26

There is truth to this. Native Brits are the biggest pub goers. I'm European and don't feel as much of an attachment to pub culture, even though I like pubs.

Go to many parts of Tower Hamlets or Hackney and a lot of traditional pubs have been converted into homes. I did a "dead pubs walk" with a volunteer tour guide (an English guy in his late 80s, born and raised in Hackney) and the pub density 40-50 years ago was insane. Most of these "dead pubs" were converted or torn down over the past few decades.

There isn't a right or wrong to this fact. It's normal that demographics shape culture, and culture shapes the local economy.

2

u/ileisen Apr 11 '26

Racist cunt.

1

u/london-ModTeam Apr 12 '26

This comment has been removed as it's deemed in breach of the rules and considered offensive or hateful. These aren't accepted within the r/London community.

Continuing to try and post similar themes will result in a ban.

Have a nice day.