To be really upset to read on MN

[shootingstarz]

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

dog, shooting said you cant feed a person on £20 a week i said you could so not talking about YOUR situation

ffs

I think I know what you are trying to say morris, and i dont think you are necessarily slating those who make that choice that you've just described. But it does come down to choice. I do know people who have done that and it is tragic.

My ex would rather make sure he had fags first then feeding his kids come second. His last fiver would buy a pack of ten fags and a chocolate bar then a pasty for whichever kid he happens to have contact with.

Internet isnt a privelage these days most things are done online , and TBH saying that is patronising , and if a person online shops they are saving money
I hope your knickers dont catch fire

"Why are there people on this thread who are going without food or worrying about how they are going to feed the meter yet are paying for internet access?"

2 year contract. cant get out of it, can't afford early termination fee, can't afford £30 to bounce direct debit every month aswell as acrruing debt with phone company (been there, they stick the fucking arm right in). many other need their internet to work.

I dont think a cheap mob is a luxury tbh, I need mine to stay contactable by the school etc

I think if you're not managing to get your point across, Morris, then maybe you're not being very clear.

The thread started off being about how sad it is that parents go without food in order to ensure that their children eat - you wondered initially whether going without food meant having cereal or a piece of toast. You then pondered on the fact that the poorest tend to gamble on the lottery and bingo and that food vouchers might be the answer.

Going by your posts on this thread, it seems to me that you believe that those going without food are doing so to fund a lottery ticket or a magazine rather than truly not being able to afford to have a proper meal.

Oh yes that old chestnut, Internet access. Fgs. Give people a break.

Yes, but things that are done online are not exclusivley done online are they? Doing them online is an option.

my mobile is payasyougo it has had no credit for about 2/3 weeks now. i dont even charge it up as there is no point.

Lack of internet access can now cause more financial hardship than paying for it does.

The best deals for all essential utilities can only be accessed online. Likewise, most goods and services are cheaper online, including food shopping as the delivery cost is usually cheaper than the cost of taking a car to and from a supermarket.

With libraries shutting left, right and centre, the cost of travelling to a place where you can access the internet to do all these things, plus paying for the internet time you use, can be more than the cost of having it supplied at home, particularly if you are doing it via a PAYG dongle-type set-up.

Not to mention the fact that most schools now have a set up where homework is downloaded and uploaded.

and the actual mobile itself cost 1p off an internet shop i had to buy £10 of credit to get the deal but credit isn't lost money, i got the benefit of it in the calls.

There's been some fascinating work in recent years on how poor people in developing countries people living on less than $1-2 a day spend their money.

And yes, even such desperately poor people often held up on MN as examples of really poor or the deserving poor spend money on little luxuries like tobacco, alcohol, food treats, and big luxuries like weddings, festivals, TVs.

It's human nature to want some relief from a life at times unrelentingly grim.

I love the idea that poor people should of course be perfectly rational economically, while the deluded irrationality of millions of people buying overpriced housing gets a pass

If somebody were to tweet this thread to David Cameron, do you think he would care?

maybe they should just cancel their internet connection and get a taxi to tescos instead or maybe walk 5 miles home . as somebody else said that old chestnut , I knew a girl and she was a young girl who had internet but used a top up service and she would fill it up once a month and once its gone its gone ,

(MyDog I think you misunderstood - no-one is accusing the recipients of benefits misspending "my tax money", we are saying that the government should be giving more to people who need it to eat)

I meant two things - that above, but also making sure it isn't frittered away by the recipients on things before food and similar basics are covered.

Just like Child benefit was handed over to women to ensure the kids got fed, I wonder if there should be food benefit handed over to ensure people eat.

I think there needs to be a 2 pronged strategy, not just automatically handing over more money.

madame I am using the internet on my phone. The contract is up in 3 months and probably won't be renewed. I will be £15 per month better off. Hth.

thekidz ffs yourself. Yes you can just about feed yourself for £20 per week she actually said that won't buy much food for 1 person. That is true. She was using it to make a point that a lot of people on this thread have that much to feed a family.

But then again, if they go without food because the prefer to smoke, then it really is their own choice. Ruining their health vs filling their bellies with nutrition?

£3k a year literally up in smoke, if you go through a 20 pack a day.

There?s no point arguing if people are going without food or not, clearly there are people that skip meals in order to feed their children.

There must be ways of getting the food the supermarkets and restaurants throw out to shops where people can buy it at a heavily discounted rate. What happens to all the veg that are not EU standard and Food that has reached its sell by date (but not necessarily off)?

I'm very saddened by this thread. Firstlly because I see how much people really are struggling at the moment and secondly the attitude of some 'non-believing' posters is astounding.

I found this very interesting poverty in the UK

No David Cameron wouldn't care. Tweet it to George Osborne and he will rub his hands in glee.

Madame, I'm job searching at the moment. Every job I applied for was only advertised online, and only accepts applications online.

The internet access thing is just such an awful thing to wheel out isn't it?

It's like "Well if you can afford to be on this thread then you can afford to eat"...which essentially not only silences those who have internet access, but also means that those who don't have it CANNOT be heard.

It's really such a non argument - or are those using that argument of the belief that the children of poorer families ahould be prevented from improving their education as well?

This thread is about the sacrifices being made by people for their children - do you not think that part of the sacrifice might be internet access so that their kids can do their homework?