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.

^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.^

That IS the message. Some people...

'children aren't starving the UK'

I beg to fucking differ. People are coming to my work desperate, we are having to direct them to food banks and use our emergency funds to help people buy food or pay for heating and electric. People are having to return food to food banks because they cannot afford the fuel to heat up or cook food. If you honestly think people are not starving the UK you need to open your eyes and wake the fuck up. I'm an idealist and I'm still a bit naive about some things but even I know that people are going hungry every day in the UK.

HopALongOn, I wouldnt be on blogs such as this is I was not trying to understand the situation

The media likes to paint whatever picture suits them. There are lots of articles about how people are struggling in the UK in the Guardian for example, but of course there are, it backs up their message that the Tories are evil (they probably are). There were no such articles under Labour. So has all this poverty just happened in the past 2 years?

I am very comfortable financially, I am lucky and dont have to scrimp and save and hopefully, unless the whole system collapses will never have to, but I do care and emphasise, partly because of my background, but as I personally do not know anyone in a situation like this anymore, then I have to rely on 3rd party info which is so difficult to analyse and trust.

The same here in Spain by the way. 27% unemployed and millions of people living on next to nothing, but in my closed social circle, life just goes on as normal. It is really hard to make sense of what is going on.

I am also very lucky to not have to scrimp and save every penny, and to also have a decent safety net, but I doubt it would last me past about 18 months if something really drastic happened.

I work with carers and the absolute misery induced by poverty (beyond your control) is heart breaking. To have to give up your job to care for your mum because the 'care' offered by the local authority is an absolute joke and your employer can only be so understanding about you needing flexible working and having to call in at the last minute because she's taken a turn (on top of all the other bits and bobs that crop up when you're also looking after children etc), is awful. I'm just at a loss that people are seriously questioning if people are actually poor. Of course it's being reported and it backs up the the message that the current policies are really affecting people, because it's true. I think there was less of it under the previous government, as they weren't out to demonise the poor and there was a better (though not great) welfare system in place.

ATOS, cuts to DLA/PIP, JSA conditions and sanctions, ESA changes (especially to do with appeals), cuts to local authority spending etc etc are driving people to destitution. It makes me ashamed to call this place home at times.

If it's any comfort to mijas, the welfare restructuring that is causing this was planned and put in train by Labour, for all the Tories' enthusiastic championing and acceleration of it.

It's certainly no comfort to me, as it means there's no one to vote for to undo this disaster, unless Labour drastically change their tune. (And they've made occasional tinkering-round-the-edges noises, but I haven't seen any genuine change).

ParsingFright, there will be no change while the same people remain in power. Labour or Tory is basically the same, just tinkering around the edges

I agree with Russel Brand, a revolution is needed, but people in Britain dont have the appetite for it. I dont see demonstrations in all the main cities every week like I do here in Spain.

I only hope that people dont get too hugry before they decide to get out onto the streets!

I am fortunate enough to have met Jack on a couple of occasions as we live in the same town and I have been an older version of Jack, although not a single parent. I was made redundant just over 2.5 years ago... I thought it would be relatively easy to walk into a new job, after all I had worked at a very senior level for over 20 years and had been quite well paid. If it had not been for the support of my retired older sister and her husband bringing me food parcels every week after the first five months, when my redundancy had run out I do not know how I would have coped.

I was lucky I am from a generation who were taught to cook by our mothers and at school. I had a stock cupboard that was soon depleted. I almost lost my house, I was unable to afford to replace my washing machine for 18 months (amazing how clean hand washing will make your finger nails), I am now on meters for my gas and electric... me who always paid her bills on time, if you had said that I would have been in this state five years ago, I would not have believed you. Now I am not a spend-thrift but it is really true when they say most people are two wage packets away from the gutter.

Unless you have been there at 3.00am, wide awake thinking about how you will budget to pay your bills and buy food, you will have no idea what this is like, let alone the shame of admitting to family and friends what a parlous state you are in or how you have failed to be able to stand on your own two feet.

Last year, I got nominated for a Mumsnet Christmas gift... I sobbed. The box of chocs were a little bit of luxury and I also got some lovely sewing jewellery... it made me feel human.

Please don't think it will not happen to you, because it really might... during the period since I was made redundant, it has happened to a several more of my friends, one of whom sat crying on my sofa telling me how much she had misjudged me as she thought I had not really been trying hard enough to get a job and now she was in the same situation she realised how tough things really are.

Sadly Jack, her circumstances and her blog are not unusual, I think more of us will find ourselves in this situation but let's hope that we will be able to turn it around as well as she has done and with the good grace that she has shown in her responses on here.

PS. I have been temping with the same organisation for the last year and things are starting to turn for me but like a ship the turn is slow but steady.

I have never read the blog , bit of a hopeless cook , not a regular Gaurdian reader . I was in a very similar posistion to Jack at the same age ( back in the mists of time before blogs ) and i can honestly say it is totally pants . I was more fotunate than Jack , because when it all went completely tits up i had a place in a homeless hostel , so at the very least i didnt have to worry about heating and hot water , we were warm and clean .
The perception of people at this end of the food chain was one of the things i found the most shocking , the vast majority of other families in the hostel were in there because of a series of misfortunes beyond their control , quite a few had owned property . Bad stuff happens to good people .
Would i have been in that posistion had i not chosen to have my son ? almost certainly not , therefore it was my 'fault' , i would have still been earning the good wage that i routinely frittered away on crap, as is the way with a lot of 22 year olds ( and 42 year olds )
So Jack , it doesn't matter what anyone says , you carve out the best life you can for you and your boy , using whatever skills you have at your disposal .

I 'played at being poor' for three months when I was made redundant. I've never been so scared in my life. I used to spend hours doing my supermarket shopping trying to work out the cheapest meals I could do for myself and ds. I wish Jack's blog had been available then as I think she and her recipes are inspirational.

As I said upthread but you chose not to answer samandi I assume you have never been a single parent. I have had to make choices about my life that I would never ever have envisaged simply because I am a single parent. I am lucky that I am educated and that education gives me choices (even though the job centre advisor said it would be very hard to find me a job because I was so qualified ). Not everyone has that and it is something I reinforce with ds on a daily basis.

On a separate note I was truly shocked to read Jack's article in the Guardian yesterday about the Trussell Trust saying people are returning food parcels as they cannot afford to heat the food. I can't imagine that level of poverty and I'm ashamed that it is happening here in the UK.

LatteLady - great post, and it's good things are looking up for you, but again please don't think that many of the people making criticisms HAVEN'T been there. I do think it's valid to question how/why people fall into poverty in the first place, as it's often not inevitable.

As I said upthread but you chose not to answer samandi I assume you have never been a single parent. I have had to make choices about my life that I would never ever have envisaged simply because I am a single parent. I am lucky that I am educated and that education gives me choices (even though the job centre advisor said it would be very hard to find me a job because I was so qualified ). Not everyone has that and it is something I reinforce with ds on a daily basis.

I did answer it? Not I'm not. I did have an abortion when single as I wasn't in any kind of situation to have a kid.

Being overqualified is often a death knell for many job applications ...

Jack was in a position to have a child then. Her circumstances change. And what happens if you don't believe in abortion? Some people do not.

It might not be inevitable with the benefit of hindsight , but often people in extreme situations react rather than act , timescales are short , systems meant to protect are clumsy and long winded , and above all you are talking about human beings who make human errors

frumpet - well said.

I think Jack's child and her decision to have him need to be left alone. It's clear from her responses to that particular point that she found the speculation and discussion quite hurtful and as she has replied personally to this gunner as expressing her feelings perhaps we should all respect that..?

Mignonette and Ragamuffin - I believe I was commenting on my own experience just there, not Jack's.

I do think it's valid to question these things on a general basis, however, seeing that having a child is such a fundamental reason why so many women fall into poverty.

gunner = point

Feckin' autocorrect

On paper , i wasn't in the best posistion to have a child , i went back to work and did get some help from benefits . I was on benefits for 18 months of my sons 19 years .

Right, but the questions should be more along the lines of: Why are we not forcing men to take financial responsibility for their offspring and why is the CSA so shite? Why is there not more support for single parents who need to work (especially shift work)? Are women getting access to comprehensive sex education and sexual health services? Are there barriers to women RE employment when they are single parents? etc etc.

ENOUGH!

The reason why someone chooses to have or not to have a baby is their's and their's alone. It is not for anyone on here to comment upon. It is none of our business, nor is it right and proper to comment upon it.

Now can we get back to the causes of poverty and how we try to address it rather than getting personal about somebody else's life.

samandi my post wasn't just aimed at you - there have been a few replies discussing this and I just don't feel it's right, or relevant..

But then i was lucky , i moved in with someone who could ( rack up enorous debts ) look after my son while i worked shifts .

Latte I wasn't discussing her reasons for having a baby (because that is none of my business), but I do agree we need to look at why it often tips women into poverty, and how we can address that.

*The reason why someone chooses to have or not to have a baby is their's and their's alone. It is not for anyone on here to comment upon. It is none of our business, nor is it right and proper to comment upon it.

Now can we get back to the causes of poverty and how we try to address it rather than getting personal about somebody else's life.*

A huge cause of female poverty is having a child. I'm not sure how you propose to address the causes of female poverty without addressing the question of why or why not, and in what circumstances, women choose to have kids.