to be shocked that Jack Monroe

[samandi]

was on £27,000 a year just back in 2011?

This is a woman I associate with desperate poverty and yet in the space of one and a half years ? she managed to go from having a prosperous job at a pretty young age to struggling to feed her son?

At the age of 22 she had about a £20,000 net income, which is more than many people can dream about. £27,000 is way more than I've ever earned in my life and I'm over ten years older than her.

Am I being unreasonable to think this detracts a bit from her message? Or am I just living in a different world.

[KirjavaTheCorpse]

Eh? Why would it detract from her message?

[Mitzyme]

Sorry OP but who is she?

[Living]

I think it makes her message. What happened to her could happen to any of us.

[RagamuffinAndFidget]

She gave up her well-paid job because she couldn't carry on looking after a small baby whilst working nights and days, and she mistakenly thought she would be able to get another job easily because she'd had a good one previously. She clearly wasn't able, and from what I understand that certainly wasn't for lack of trying, and therefore was trying to survive on unemployment benefits. Do you feel that people who have previously been 'well off' are therefore unable to become 'poor'? Because that's just ridiculous..

[MrsCakesPremonition]

I think I need you to explain a bit more.

[ParsingFright]

Agree with living.

[ifyourehoppyandyouknowit]

^WSS. I think it's the entire point of her message. Educated, sensible young woman can lose everything and be brought down to horrific poverty in a very short space of time. It could happen to anyone. No one is immune.

[RagamuffinAndFidget]

Too many 'therefores'..

[samandi]

Mitzyme - www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/9900773/My-49p-lunch-with-a-girl-called-Jack.html

Living - that's certainly a valid perspective, though I can't imagine even earning £27,000 let alone quitting such a well paid (and well-loved, from all accounts) job with nothing else to go to. Or not having savings if I earned that much.

[ParsingFright]

This is the real difference between people who own the means of production, in terms of property, shares, etc, which give unearned income, and few costs if they live in fully owned property.

And people whose capital is themselves. As soon as something stops them working (illness, childcare, redundancy), they are poor.

Of course it's possible to convert earnings into property and shares, but it's not completely surprising a 22 year old hasn't accumulated much.

[thehorridestmumintheworld]

I agree it just shows how anyone can be affected just as she was a sudden illness, redundancy or something and many of us would be at the mercy of the benefits system. Jack says even though she is now getting paid she still economises on food just in case.

[stargirl1701]

YABU. As has been pointed out, her story shows how vulnerable anyone is and why the welfare state is so important.

[KirjavaTheCorpse]

So... you think she's stupid, or something? Or ungrateful for earning so much and then becoming poor? I don't really get your point!

[Pootles2010]

Yes agree with Living. It makes it all the scarier.

She had no choice to leave - she was a single mother who had to do night-shifts. What should she have done? There is no childcare for overnight shifts.

[squoosh]

Nope, I think this enforces her message. Even people who are earning a relatively good salary can see themselves reduced to a weekly food budget of £10.

[squoosh]

She had to learn fast.

[samandi]

I think it detracts because many people in poverty go years and years without the opportunity to earn that kind of money. In the space of a year she went from prosperity to desperate poverty and then back to prosperity again. She can't know what it's like to experience poverty for years on end. Hmm, which perhaps isn't her message anyway, just my own image of her!

[ringaringarosy]

27k is nothing really!

I agree it shows that it can happen to anyone really,if not from redunancy then from illness or something.

[difficultpickle]

samandi I would hazard a guess from your OP that you aren't a single parent. If you were then you would completely understand why you have to do things that you would never have contemplated doing. I doubt that JM gave up her job easily.

[Thisisaghostlyeuphemism]

Well put Parsing.

I think I live in the same area as Jack, her old wage is not atypical around here. She would have to pay approx £600 a month rent...It wouldn't make her wealthy.

[Reality]

£27k is hardly prosperity!

[ringaringarosy]

I have no idea where she lives though so i guess 27k a year could go quite far,plus she only has the one child.

[Mitzyme]

Thanks Samandi.

[samandi]

So... you think she's stupid, or something? Or ungrateful for earning so much and then becoming poor? I don't really get your point!

She certainly doesn't seem stupid, no. Reckless perhaps. And perhaps before quitting her job she wasn't aware how difficult it is to find employment, certainly well-paid employment.

[whois]

I can't imagine even earning £27,000 let alone quitting such a well paid (and well-loved, from all accounts) job with nothing else to go to. Or not having savings if I earned that much

Your lack of imagination doesn't preclude it from happening.

£27k isn't a huge salary and it's quite possible at 22 to have few/minimal savings. She hadn't been working very long to have amassed many savings!

And how do you think she should have carried on working with no family or partner support? Just left the baby at home alone? It's very difficult finding overnight child care.