To be really upset to read on MN

[shootingstarz]

That parents are going without food because they can?t afford to feed their kids.

The internet is a utility now I disagree. We need water for washing and drinking, we need heating to keep us warm. We do not need the internet.

Jesus christ, when did the internet become a basic human right?

Internet for a pound a week? It's a magic pound but it's only available to the poor.

You buy minutes.

A computer is not a luxury. Look at the calendar. We're in 2012. Who'd a thought it. The government sometimes give them to poor children because even they understand how the internet, as a resource, is invaluable in today's society.

I am gob smacked that some posters think that going without the internet (which today is a basic form of communication and a cost saving item for many for so many things) should be required before anyone is allowed to claim poverty.

Sack cloth as clothing will be the next evidence required.

Missing internet payments, cancelling TV licence, selling the TV, sitting in a cold house.... then you'd accept that those children are being brought up in poverty????

The internet is an educational need for many children. It is a lifeline for many meaning you can communicate. What you are really saying is I don't wish to accept that poverty exists because it's too fucking uncomfortable for me to consider...so I will argue against it regardless of how rational it is

Where did I say it was a basic human right? When you are chucked on the sceap heap the chances of pulling yourself back up are tiny, the system sees to that. Why should it be made even harder. Should we give up all our possesions when everything goes tits up? I sold all my saleable jewellery apart from my wedding ring and sold what else we could. We kept some of our possesions to try and make life a little bit more bareable. Why is that so wrong?

am gob smacked that some posters think that going without the internet (which today is a basic form of communication and a cost saving item for many for so many things) should be required before anyone is allowed to claim poverty.

Why are you gobsmacked?

It would be impossible for dh to job hunt with no computer at all!

I just want to wish everyone well who is struggling. It's shit that this is one of the richest countries in the world and people can't eat properly.

The sneering about Internet access is fucking unbelievable! Listen to yourselves! The Internet is the greatest invention of modern times. If you need to find something out you can. If you want to talk to others you can. You can access banking, government, charities etc which you wouldn't be able to do easily in real life. If you want the cheapest price for something you go online. Internet access is crucial to the chances of someone in poverty being able to improve their situation.

Teach a man to fish and all that.

Remember our possessions were bought with wages. My DC are innocent human beings, why should they have to suffer more than we can help just because DH and I are failures. It's not their fault.

It is a lifeline for many meaning you can communicate - Thanks for this, TT. I'm isolated. Without the phone and interweb, my only communication each day would be with the checkout lady. I wouldn't be able to access the support I do here (and elsewhere), get any help with benefit claims or even get moneysaving ideas. My bills & banking would be even more expensive, as I get paperfree discounts; I wouldn't have been able to buy second-hand kitchen appliances from ebay or get my telly from freecycle; would not even have been able to buy those new knickers or the paint for my bathroom.

But it's a luxury

star once you are down you must stay down and remember your place. Being poor is not punishment enough.

I didn't say " a basic human right" I said a utility.

I pay £18 a month BUT with it I get my phone for £2 a month.
If I didn't have internet I would pay a lot more for my phone, so it's swings and roundabouts.
Also, as others have said, older kids need the internet these days for school projects. It is simply expected that you are online.

Also, I can do my banking (not paying for the 0845 number), bulk buy cheap stuff(delivery is the same as a taxi from the supermarket) sell stuff on Ebay (which has fed us some months as I have a lot of clothes from a previous life) get things on freecycle, find out about jobs i might want to apply for, apply for better jobs, talk on skype to friends who live abroad.

If my laptop dies, then I will have to cancel the internet at the end of my contract, but for now, it's a lifeline. Also, I have no social life to speak of, so it keeps me connected to the world.

I'm early 30's lesley.

dontwakeupyet the internet gives people access to the World Wide Web, the clue is in the title. Do you think people should give that up? That equates to poor people shouldn't have books. How would getting rid of a family computer benefit anyone? Really, I'd love to know.

I think we need to get away from the idea that just because some forms of extreme privation were commonplace in past generations, that this is acceptable now. It is not acceptable, in the same way that allowing society to polarise further is wrong. Everyone deserves a reasonable standard of living, and to be part of wider society, rather than living some kind of subsistence lifestyle as apparent punishment for having bad luck or genes.

Well said boffin.

I sold all my saleable jewellery apart from my wedding ring and sold what else we could - YY, Hecuba, me too (wedding ring included). Haven't had a car for five years, and couldn't afford to run it anyway. Sold my gorgeous designer furniture & stuffs, and am replacing them with second-hand bits. I paid more than a quarter of a million in tax & NI. That doesn't make me any more or less deserving than others, but it would be nice if those who keep saying I'm not poor enough yet would acknowledge that I'm not getting the security I paid for.

Well said boffin x2.

Regarding internet, its a requirement for school age kids it seems :( we had a time without and my ds just could not keep up with his course work as its all on the schools intranet (is that what I mean - i dunno lol) So its actually a bigger priority for me than I thought it would ever be.

We used to have to sail very close to the no food point before I received dla as the money from the childrens dad is very infrequent. I became quite inventive with very basic food stuffs and have a cupboard full of long dated stuff just in case things go tits up.

Noodles, tin fruit and veg ... £20 doesnt go very far for 3 of you plus a dog (bought pre divorce) Still watching sport relief tonight puts it in to perspective, I am still very very lucky, my kids have been vaccinated.

Well it serves people well to know anyone can fall hard times

This time last year we were minus £200 a month

Then dh got a new job of £42k

I was over the moon!

Then he lostv it 8 weeks later

We have a baby

He spent 2 weeks on the net and pounding streets of London with no luck

He is a very well educated man with an excellent degree

But all it takes is one redundancy

To those who think we should be punished can I ask why? Why is being poor and having no future not punishment enough?. Honestly what have we done that is so bad?

"we only really used the internet to book holidays."

explains exactly why you dont understand how important the internet is for some people.

I think some people are also confusing relative and absolute poverty. Relative poverty is what most people are talking about on here, i.e. being well below median earnings and suffering various negative consequences. Absolute poverty is when you have nothing at all, as we see in some overseas countries and only rarely here (rough sleepers being the only example I can think of). Both are major problems and require major solutions but should not be confused or compared against each other.

I do understand how important it is for some people. But I don't see it as a necessity like water, heat and food. And I asked about ages as I genuinely wondered whether this was an age related attitude.

Booking holidays is something we definitely don't use the internet for.

Thanks for your reply above, Lesley. I do feel it's important to stress what boffin's just posted.

boffinmum - Failed asylum seekers alos suffer absolute poverty. In reality worse than homeless as charities funded by Government are not supposed to help them. But if they genuinely believe they will be killed if they return to their home country, what choice do they have?