Iryna thinks people complaining about the cost of living need to stop complaining
A woman has rejected the idea Brits are living through a cost of living crisis. She says she used to worry about going hungry – not worrying about ‘how to afford a second car’. Iryna Hordiienko says she often didn’t have enough money for food while on Ukrainian minimum wage but since moving to the UK as a refugee in 2022 she’s been able to live ‘normally’.
The 27 year old is a social media manager in Margate, Kent, and says she now only spends half her wage on rent and food so has begun saving to buy a house. Her TikTok account claims that British people ‘love to complain that everything is expensive’ but the ‘cost of living crisis’ doesn’t compare to the ‘nothing to eat crisis’ she endured in Ukraine.
She claims moaners ‘aren’t happy that they can’t afford to buy a second car’ and ‘don’t appreciate what they have already’. Some TikTok felt Iryna’s experience ‘puts things into perspective’ and shows how Brits ‘need to just get on with their lives’.
However, others argued that ‘being satisfied with low wages and higher prices is the problem’ and told her not to ‘minimise Brits’ struggles just because you believe you had it worse in Ukraine’.
Iryna, from Kharkiv, Ukraine, said: “I see people in the UK say they’re poor and don’t have enough money to survive here because there’s high prices.
“I think they’re using it to live a good life but I used to have a bad life and it’s already happiness when I have enough money to buy chicken. The rent is probably half of my salary but I feel very good because I can save my money to buy my own house. That’s my dream.
“For them they’re not happy that they can’t afford to buy a second car so I think they don’t appreciate what they have already. We lived in poverty all our lives and never went abroad, never had a car and at my parents’ house I had to sleep on the floor because we had seven people in one apartment.
“I was earning 8,000 Ukrainian hryvnia [per month] and renting an apartment for 6,000 so I was struggling with food and I survived how I could. My story is only my personal experience and not all Ukrainians lived or live the same life as me.
“Some people don’t believe my story, but everything I said is true. I really did live in complete poverty, and my parents still live this way now. I would never go to restaurants and I couldn’t even buy a new iPhone in my 23 years in Ukraine but when I came to the UK I saw it’s normal to survive on minimum wage.
“You can go to the shop and buy whatever food you want. You don’t have to worry if you have enough money for chicken.” The current UK minimum wage, which Iryna says she is paid, is £12.21 per hour.
She shares a flat with her partner who she also shares bills and a bank account with. Iryna’s post said: “In Ukraine I worked hard but still went hungry and couldn’t pay for my flat. It was tough.
“But in the UK I earn a minimum wage and suddenly I’m ‘rich’ enough to afford a life! British people love to complain that everything is expensive, but to me, your ‘struggling’ feels like a win.
“You have a ‘cost of living crisis’; I had a ‘nothing to eat’ crisis. Thanks for the chance to live normally!” One commented: “That really puts things into perspective.”
A second agreed and said: “Thank you for telling it how it is. People need to get on with their lives.” A third added: “People are trying to better themselves by over-spending on flash cars and big houses. They’re running before they can walk.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting a better life but doing it too soon can cause problems.” However one argued: “I’m glad you’re here and safe.
“A lot of people in England struggle to feed their own family, we have food banks, issues with homelessness and a lot of unrest. I understand your point but also there are a lot of problems. Everything is relative however, yes.”
Another said: “And this is the problem. People like you come from countries worse than ours and then are satisfied by the way our country is. Like taking the low wage and higher prices with no problems or complaints, and so the government just keeps it like that.
“British people are FIGHTING for a better future and economy. It might be your win but it’s not ours! A lot of British people are starving and going without heating in freezing temperatures.
“Please don’t minimise our struggles just because you believe you had it worse in Ukraine.”
