Why You Won't Get Rich

And Why You Deserve Better Than This

Robert Verkaik

• Publisher: Oneworld Publications
• Year: 2021
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781786078087
• Subtopic: Political Ideologies
• Index: Social Sciences

From the bottom to the top of our economy, capitalism is too blunt an instrument to tackle Britain's epidemic of inequality.

Soaring rents, unfair taxation and a growing gig economy have brought about unprecedented economic shame: Amazon warehouse workers living in tents, nurses turning to foodbanks, London firemen commuting hundreds of miles to work.

Even those higher up the ladder are losing their grip on the life they were promised. Barristers take home less than the minimum wage and doctors are starting out with £100,000 student debts on salaries lower than the national average. We’re all facing a new economic phenomenon – in-work poverty. At the same time a generation of young professionals is coming to terms with never being able to own even the cheapest home in their area.

From the bottom to the top of our economy, capitalism is too blunt an instrument to tackle Britain's epidemic of inequality.
Soaring rents, unfair taxation and a growing gig economy have brought about unprecedented economic shame: Amazon warehouse workers living in tents, nurses turning to foodbanks, London firemen commuting hundreds of miles to work.
Even those higher up the ladder are losing their grip on the life they were promised. Barristers take home less than the minimum wage and doctors are starting out with £100,000 student debts on salaries lower than the national average. We’re all facing a new economic phenomenon – in-work poverty. At the same time a generation of young professionals is coming to terms with never being able to own even the cheapest home in their area.
Hard work no longer pays off. But there is hope for a better, fairer future.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Introduction: The Road to Wembley
• 1 What Is Rich? The Billionaire Who Thinks Everybody is Worth £660,791
• 2 Survivors: The Insurance Salesman Who Didn’t Leave His Home for 4 Years
• 3 First Responders: The Hungry Nurse Who Ate the Patient’s Sandwich
• 4 Strugglers: The Boy Who Missed His Mother’s Funeral
• 5 Workers: The Mortician Who Became a Hairdresser
• 6 Renters: The Princess and the Paupers
• 7 Millennials: The Travel Agent Who Swapped His Career for a Windsurfer
• 8 Grafters: The City Trader Who Lied About His Holidays
• 9 Taxes: The Single Mother on Benefits Who Went to Prison and the Oligarch Who Didn’t
• 10 Born Poor: The Immigrant Who Wanted to be a Social Worker
• 11 Borrowers: The Railway Engine Mechanic Who Lost Her Job and Never Recovered
• 12 Strivers: The £90,000 Lawyer Who Didn’t Feel Very Rich
• 13 Savers: The Sailor and the Dinner Lady Who Ran Out of Money Before They Died
• 14 Traders: The Day the Bookshop Didn’t Sell Any Books
• 15 The City: The Classic-Car Enthusiast Who Forgot What Kind of Car His Broker was Driving
• 16 Wealth: The World-Famous Mountaineer Who Sleeps in His Ford Mondeo
• 17 Winners: The Numismatist Who Accidentally Cornered the Market
• 18 Generation Poor: The Graduate Who Didn’t Want to Move to London
• 19 Coronavirus: The Man Who Tried to Buy Some Toilet Paper
• 20 Enriching Our Society: How We All Get Rich
• Acknowledgements
• Notes
• Index
• Copyright