Britain's Hidden Hunger

[KanelbulleKing]

www.itv.com/hub/britains-secret-hunger-exposure/2a7613a0001

Just watching this on catch up and I'm sobbing. How has Britain sunk so low as a country that children are frightened of school holidays because they know they'll be hungry? Children thinking it's Christmas because their family has received a few bags of basic food items?

The existence of food banks in one of the richest countries in the world is a national disgrace. My MIL is knocking on 80 and spends her spare time peeling potatoes and carrots for the lunches her church provides for anyone who needs them. She should be putting her feet up and being served herself but she won't because she's too worried about her 'guests' going hungry.

Time for change?

Every notice the number of posts on all these threads qualified with 'surely'? My father was born in 1936, at the tail-end of the Great Depression, to a working poor family. He 'made it', so to speak, but as he said, it was luck, his family were immigrants who had a bit of luck on their side and his father had been born rich so had the benefit of formal education. He has never once othered poor people, blamed them (as he said, my mother, a lay midwife and wet nurse, took in children whose mothers worked at night, most of the boys I grew up with ended up in jail or dead), suggested 'they' should just eat pasta and porridge/can't cook/it's all their fault. He describes a time of relentless, grinding poverty, often a trap due to social inequality. But as he says, now age 83, 'Here we go again!' 'When you take away services and denigrate healthcare, remove social mobility and justice, you get the place my I was lucky enough to escape. You increase crime, you do not make people unpoor or different by dissolving society.'

Amen!

It's not being rejected, it's unsustainable for a great number of people whose ranks are growing, but hey, they just didn't have the reserves, did they, just didn't know how to do being poor.

I didn't say anyone should just have pasta, just that it's a staple that most households have, so it's surprising it's often passed up. Of course no one should be expected to live off of it, although we had maybe 5 out of 7 meals a week pasta based because there wasn't any choice, so I understand that it's not fair to think people deserve to live off of it. The porridge with water expectation is ridiculous, for example, as most people wouldn't touch it with a bargepole, therefore it's unfair to expect people to be grateful for it.

From last weeks Big Issue.

"A study commissioned by Unilever showed that two thirds (65.6% ) of the UK said they thought fewer than 500"000 children were affected by the food poverty crisis , while in reality four million children and their families are trapped in poverty"

I have just joined Mumsnet and haven't read all the comments on this subject as it would take me too long so maybe this point has already been made. Nevertheless I would still like to voice (or type) my opinion which is; If you are in poverty and struggling to feed your children how can you afford to keep a dog, a cat, a hamster and a guinea pig (or did I see 2 in that cage). Do you really need a car? And fair enough if the tattoos were paid for in more affluent times but if not then where's the money come from for those? Just saying...

Auntie, that is a very narrow minded view, maybe the pet is their only companion in life, their only form of support? Many people who use Food Banks are on very low wages/zero hour contracts so they need a car to get to work to try and support their family. We live in a rural area where public transport is practically non existent.

One man I know had to sleep in his car as the only job he was offered was far from home and the only way he could take it was by commuting but sleeping in his car. He was on a very low wage so he still needed support from the Food Bank*. Should he have just given up trying and accepted a life on benefits?

Have you ever actually visited a Food Bank? I suggest you watch the film ‘I, Daniel Blake’.

*Pleased to be able to report that this man eventually got a better paid job nearer home and was kind enough to return to the Food Bank with a generous donation as thanks for the support he received when he needed it.

You said 'pet' . They had at least 4 pets. (I am referring to the family with 5 children) How can a pet be their only companion in life when they have each other? Pets cost a lot of money. So do tattoos. As far as the car issue goes if you were to re-read my post we will see that I wrote Do you really need a car? which is a question. If they can't be without one then fair enough, if you can be without one then it is an unnecessary expense. My family have always been classed as 'on or below the breadline' but have always managed and I was one of 5 kids myself growing up in a tougher time with no spare money but we never starved. I am not heartless, I truly feel for those with genuine problems but sometimes it has to be tough love that pulls you through the hard times.

I agree,they said they couldn’t remember a summer where they haven’t depended on the food bank, yet they have an expensive to buy dog (which they have to feed) and hamsters in a cage with all the accommodations) I would be prioritizing food and electricity over additional mouths to feed. Cheap or not it still costs money to provide for hamsters.

Parttimers, glad to know someone agrees with me. Thank you.

I'm happy not to agree with you, AuntieJuJu. You've just joined Mumsnet and like a magnet, here you are to have your say. Yes, you can do that. Opinions are like arseholes; everybody has one.

That said, if you had bothered to read the thread, you might have learned something but, as you were.

Pets can be in a family before poverty hits. I have two cats, we are relatively okay financially. Bit of the shit were to hit the fan there’s no way I’d part with my pets. They are part of my family and I made a commitment to them when they came to love with me.

That said .

I don’t understand buying expensive pedigree puppies etc when you are in poverty. However if life is shit and you can’t see a bright future then you grab every little thing you can if the opportunity arises....tomorrow is it a given,

There has actually been some psychology tests looking at delayed gratification in children. Children in poorer families struggled much more to wait for a treat because there’s no guarantee that “later” will happen. Life is much less securel

It's more common than you think. My children get food to eat but it's at my expense, they have a cooked meal with meat or pulses, I 'eat later' as my daily food intake is a sandwich in the morning ,cup a soup and bread for lunch, toast for dinner. I go to bed hungry so they don't have to. It makes me angry that we miss out on meal times together.

LyingWitchin, So you don't like me participating in the debate because I've just joined mn or could it be because you don't like me having a different opinion to you? Hmm, if that's the case, how immature. I have since read a lot of posts in this thread only to discover what I already know and that is that there are a lot of opinions out there and everyone has a right to theirs...oh and that I still hold the same one. Nothing I have read has changed my mind. As you were.

Re. figures on food banks.

Some people who use them have spent their benefit money on drugs and booze.

I agree there needs to be more to fix the problem at source.

Putting money on an electric key is a really expensive way of paying for heating etc. But when you look into it, these companies charge ludicrous direct debits, and you can't fix them when you want i.e. to tie in with fortnightly benefit payments, 4 week payment cycles.

DB is on benefits, it took forever to switch over to a meter and the only way it works for him is that we pay by standing order into the companies bank account on the day he gets paid. They don't make it obvious that you can do this at all.

“Some people who use them have spent their benefit money on drugs and booze.”

So?

Don't know really. Just thought it's a point worth mentioning. It inflates the numbers of people using them.

I'm not saying there's deserving poor and undeserving poor, but drugs and booze are a trap.

I wonder if there would be a use for a 'tips for living on a budget/stretching your money' thread? Paying bills on a payday obviously makes it easier (and more certain) but I wasn't aware you could move the payment dates around. It probably makes quite a bit of a difference to the customer too.

Agree that drugs and booze are a trap, addictions when you have nothing must seem like a welcome escape and it's all well and good for people who have no want of food/heating/lighting to disparage but what's the actual point of doing that? Are they actually affected you and your daily life? How does it help to denigrate people who have less for whatever reason? Better that if you can't bring yourself to put yourself into their shoes, that you don't give them a kick to add to their problems. There are altogether too many people who seem to live to do just that.

Only the first bit of my post was to you, GoldfishGirl, I missed putting that.