Time to value all work

A favourite phrase of the moment seems to be working people. And for those who don't get it the first time ordinary can be added. So, an ordinary working person is someone who goes to work, draws a salary and pays taxes. Those who stay at home, bringing up their children do not count, nor do pensioners, who provide care for their grandchildren. The free care provision, ofcourse, enables their sons and daughters to become ordinary working people. Then, there are those on welfare or unable to work Frankly, the definition is absurd - another way to further divide an already divided society. This lazy sort of shorthand transforms into different stereotypes in society. So, pensioners are all seen as rich, whilst youngsters (18 upwards) are all struggling, unable to afford to buy their own home. Then there is the strivers and skivers rhetoric, first deployed by Conservative chancellor George Osborne. This separates those on benefits from those in work. Though, ofcourse, many in work now are also on benefits due to so many employers being unprepared to pay a decent wage. The welfare subsidy that props up bad employers is permissable in this perverse lexicon. So it goes on. The effort to stoke intergenerational conflict has been ongoing for many years now. Turning young against old. Also, indigenous against migrants and those on benefits against ordinary working people. It is demeaning and unacceptable. The Labour Government talks about increasing growth to ensure there is a bigger pie to be divided amongst everyone. A laudable aim, but the pie, whether big or small needs to be divided more equally. The top earners need to pay more tax to fund public services for all. Work of all types, caring for children, whether by parents or grandparents, or enabling working in other ways needs to be rewarded and recognised accordingly. There are over two million pensioners living in poverty, so why try to summarise the arguments over something like the abolition of winter fuel allowance in terms of whether Mick Jagger needs it or not. There is incredible poverty and inequality in this very rich country. A country of 200 plus billionaires that accepts millions of citizens going to food banks. Work of all types needs to be rewarded but more important is to reset the scales so that this is not a country of such gross inequality. Using rhetoric like ordinary working people and other sloppy phrases does not encourage solidarity but division and rancour. All should be striving for the common good, which means solidarity between generations, races and classes