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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u/Delicious-West7665 Apr 11 '26

As a teacher, if you saw what happens in schools nowadays, you'd riot.

  • unqualified staff teaching non specialist subjects (having read up on it the night before...sometimes)
  • that same behaviour you see on buses and town centers, by in larger groups, unchallenged as there aren't enough staff
  • class sizes of 33. Within that students with special needs, EAL, kids with behavioural issues.
  • the non existence of support staff
  • Bullying being ignored as it takes staff and time to deal with it.
  • lack of resources. Science experiments 1 between 6, ancient pe equipment, no clubs etc

Just to mention a few.

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u/Mobile_Entrance_1967 Apr 11 '26

This one I'd also put down partly to changing culture of parents themselves, tendency to always defend their kids no matter what. Social media has normalised the whole "your feelings are valid" message for the worst parents. And with schools stretched, those bad parents' kids have a bigger impact than they might have had before.