AIBU to think that if you earn £22k+ you shouldnt need to use foodbanks?

[beardymcbeardy]

Or am I in denial, or just lucky? I earn less than that and admittedly I have to be frugal, live a fairly boring lifestyle (no fancy holidays and shitty old car) but I've never had to rely on a foodbank. I can't get my head around earning £22k and still needing to use a foodbank.

and none of those things constitute a temporary unforeseen circumstance. By all means, hold the government to account on those measures, but not because you overspent one month without accounting for a lean month in the future.

Have you ignored every post where the maths has been done showing how there is no buffer to go into a rainy day fund for a lot of people on that sort of salary? An unexpected bill = debt.. debt is another expense if you don't qualify for 0% credit cards, even then you have to have enough spare available to cover the transfer fee

As for all these grandparents, relatives and friends who are able to lavish exotic holidays and fancy meals yet must be turning a blind eye when their child/friend hits hard times and has to resort to food banks. Nah, sorry dont buy it

That's nice for you, suppose you think that most of the treads on MN are big fat lies then?

My DM doesn't give a toss about me but likes to be the bountiful nanna who spoils the girls. She has seen me struggle whilst flashing her cash at family meals.

No, I have always been paid quite a low salary and got by, then last year got a job which was more than a £10k jump, so I was on £26k but had never been worse off in my life. Had to pay childcare, extortionate travel, and had no help with housing benefit, minimal tax credits etc. I had to leave in the end as I couldn't even afford to get to work, let alone any sort of luxuries.

Now I am working part time (so no childcare fees), minimum wage but locally and am actually better off.

I wouldn't like to think what round the clock childminders l/nursery would cost for someone working multiple jobs and potentially very unsociable hours like a nurse.

I admit I am not educated enough on foodbanks and their rules to be able to comment on those details, but I find the smear campaign and outright lies being spread about this woman despicable.

Regardless of her personal circumstances she makes an excellent point: we should not have a society where people are forced to rely on foodbanks to feed their children.

The fact she may at some point in her life have gone on holiday, or may once have drunk some kind of liquid from a wine glass, is utterly irreverent and supports this awful attitude of expecting "the poor" to be be sackcloth and ashes 24/7. It's not like going to an event serving drinks is some kind of super fancy thing only the wealthy have access to. It might have been a wedding, or a work reception, or a uni reunion. There are a million places you can go in a major city to have a "posh" night out for free, and even if there is no free bar (which there often is) how much is a glass of cheap wine? £3?

So basically because she once drunk a glass of wine that she may or may not have paid for she's rich and therefore a hypocrite who's not allowed to comment on the ways austerity politics hurt and kill people?

I haven't commented on the nurse.mAnyone, genuinely not able to afford food should have access to a foodbank. Actually, they should have access to a decent salary but that is another argument.
My post was about the person saying if you both earn £45,000 and one of you loses your job, you might need a foodbank. Actually, you might need to rein in your £90,000 lifestyle and live within your means. Foodbanks don't exist so people can have food paid for and spend their money maintainng a lfestyle on £45,000. They exist for the really poor who have nothing and would go without food otherwise.
At DH's school they have a mother who pays for a season ticket to Newcastle United for her and her 17 year old daughter, drives a 4x4 that is 2 years old and smokes like a chimney. They have Sky tv, all 3 children and her have new Apple mobiles. She told DH recently that she does not have a penny and is strugglng to make ends meet in one breath, could not afford school trousers for her son (£6 in asda) and in the next that she was going on a girls' weekend away to Ibiza on a hen night. She then screamed and shouted when he said the school would not be paying for the trousers and said she would write to the governors because she lives on benefits and has to go to a foodbank.

So what, Lulu? There are utter knobbers at every level of society. Rich. Poor. Educated. Uneducated.

The problem is that reigning in the 90k lifestyle to 45k might take time; the mortgage still needs to be paid, the sky, mobile phones etc are on contract...yes you could default but in some industries that would prevent you finding future work. If you're trying to get back in to work then giving up your childcare place might be very problematic as some areas have a waiting list of years. So someone who goes from 90k to 45k might well struggle with food short term

But cutbacks take time. You lose your job, cutting bills etc take time. In the interim, you and you family need food. So a foodbank is a good answer, they are there to deal with crises.

Of course you get the odd pisstaker. I'm sure they effect non Trussell Trust banks most as we have a lot of infrastructure etc. But you know what, I don't really care. If 5% take the piss that is irritating, but we need to be there to feed the 95%. Over half of who we fed last year were children, so by all means withold a tin of beans in order to spite the goat owning Sky subscribers, but be aware that in reality the people you are witholding help from may well be a young family who haven't heated their house and neither adult have eaten a full meal for weeks.

Agree with all those who have said that people can struggle for various reasons in the short term

And depending on the circumstances then 22k may well mean that you need to use a food bank in an emergency

I am thinking of circumstances such as job loss

A salary of £22k is easily enough to support an adult. It only becomes a problem where the person has debt, chooses to live in an expensive area, have x chidren etc. Far too many make lifestyle choices they can't afford and then have to turn to others.

I guess it depends on circumstances, but have been lucky I don't need to use one. I earn 20k a year & live in the South East. I also live with two disabled parents, and so costs can be high, as dad had his benefits taken away so has pension. Luckily I don't have kids, otherwise I don't think I would manage. I don't think you can judge just on the salary, as people's lives are different.

So those who have lost a £45, 000 job and their partner still has one, with a similar salary should sell the jewellery, ipads, watches, cameras, clothes on ebay, old toys , a car whatever it is to pay for thir food. But I do not give to foodbanks to support these people.
It makes me sick the number of people on the make in this country today. The people really in need are blackened by the blaggers who think society owes them a standard of living they would like to maintain. It does not. They should live within their means like the rest of us do.
The welfare state exists to support people when they are in dire straits and give them a basic level of support to tide them over, not to replace the standard of living that the £45,000 a year brought. So they might have to sell their jewellery rather than go to the foodbank- damn right they should.

DH and I lost £65000 a year last year - by choice so I could be a SAHM. I would not dream of thinking someone should be helping us not be affected by that loss by paying our food bill so I could have a new iphone. We still have his income, we can manage. There are 4 of us and we have almost half of what 2 of us lived on. We are still well off I know but my point is we just reduced what we expected to have. You can't expect to maintain a standard of living on half your income. I am not talking about people who are really poor, I am using the example given near the start where someone said if your income was reduced from £90,000 to £45,000 it was reasonable to use a foodbank. It just isn't.

The Foodbank is a completely separate entity to the State. The amount of ignorance in your post is staggering.

What a sad thread.

it never fails to astound me, the sheer blinkered, self righteous attitudes people have.

Live and let live.

Donate or don't donate

But don't justify your decision by playing judge, jury and executioner.

Life isn't black and white.

Interestingly the Metro free newspaper had an article about the Police Federation needing to hand out vouches for foodbanks to serving police officers. Seems it's not just nurses.

the government don't pay for food banks, charities do

I donate around £10 worth of goods to a food bank each month LuLu as its all i can spare.
Will some of it go to the blaggers maybe but I know that some of it will go to people in real need. That is a good enough reason to donate in my book.

You would rather deny a poor person food simply because you dont get to decide whos worthy.

That is twisted.

The last bit was a general you not durected at a specific poster....unless the shie fits that is.

I live in Scotland and sometimes refer people to food banks.
Ime it is very rare for someone on a steady wage (however low) to need a foodbank voucher.
When it does happen, there's usually some other pressing problem: unpaid tax credits, sudden illness or bereavement, theft etc..
Its unusual.
I think this person had a valid point about nurses wages but...overstated it somewhat.
I feel a bit sorry for her now though, facing the crazy social media backlash.

When you go on public tv and make personal assertions then place the blame for these on other people, for political gain, then expect your 'facts' to be scrutinised . Gone are the days of spurious claims (e.g. £350 million is to be saved for the NHS if we leave the eu) without at least some people looking at the finer details.

Having spoken to our local foodbank volunteer, she is also sceptical of this ladies claims. She also scoffed at the idea that people on £30/40/50k could claim foodbank assistance because they were short for whatever reason. Apparently thats not how foodbanks work.

Lulu, agree with you 100%. Tbf only on mn have I heard these ludicrous claims that single people on £20k are poor. But this is also where people on £80k are considered poor so go figure.

Unlimited, i have said that i understand that things like unpaid tax credits etc. could be an understandable reason for people using foodbanks. But thats not what this lady was saying. She said that she couldnt live on £22k and wanted a payrise.

I agree beardy. I'm sceptical of her claim to use food banks because of her salary. That's not generally how these things happen.

Do posters really think that people go to foodbanks for 20 value beans to get one over on the man and pay for all their trips abroad? For realsy? Because if you've got money our spend the fiver on cheap groceries yourself. You wouldn't go the effort of getting referee to a fucking food bank

Unlimited, Im glad at least one person is talking sense. Its precisely because of her salary that I doubt her claims.