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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

242 replies

beardymcbeardy · 22/05/2017 22:57

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.

OP posts:
Iggi999 · 24/05/2017 21:06

Plenty of threads on here criticising individual persons none of us happen to know. Often about their clothes, regularly (as in this case) about politics. It was a bit of a news story up here for five minutes. No shittier a thread than most on here.

angelfacecuti75 · 24/05/2017 21:15

I know foodbanks do help people in debt (because I was young and stupid and lost my job at one point & asked for help with 1)^. They usually specify you have to get debt advice though.22k in London or the southeast (only some places in southeast ) wont get you far at all x

RufusTheRenegadeReindeer · 24/05/2017 21:57

iggi

I get annoyed when OPs seem to be about a general situation which people answer in good faith

And then it turns out that the OP doesn't give a shit about the many and varied reasons given

They just want to keep having a pop

I do take your point though....Smile

SoftSheen · 24/05/2017 22:11

£22k isn't a lot, but should be sufficient for a single person. When I was a postgrad student in London I was getting by on far less than that, though living in a room in a shared house.

Very very tough for a family to get by on £22k though, certainly in London/ the Southeast, and I can easily imagine situations which might lead to them needing to use a food bank.

WanderingTrolley1 · 24/05/2017 22:14

£22k is a really poor salary.

Sara107 · 24/05/2017 22:17

If you're renting privately in my village, a 3 bed ex council house (2 proper rooms and a boxroom, not at all fancy) will set you back £1500 pcm. That's more than my take-home pay, and I earn more than £22k. So if either myself or dh were to be made redundant we would not be able to cover rent, never mind anything in addition. We also have to run 2 cars so we can both get to work in the public transport desert that is rural England. Especially with old shitty cars you can get unexpected and huge bills, which you have to pay in order to keep the shitty car on the road. So I would not be getting too judgy about people not managing on £22k.

bigoldbird · 24/05/2017 22:32

My daughter had am extremely abusive neighbour. The council had to move her for her and her child's safety. She had approximately one hours notice. She was on a low income but managing. Being moved to a new home with no flooring, no curtains, no curtain rails no light bulbs etc pushed her over the edge and she had 2 food bank referrals. At that time I was not in a position to help her. Lifew is know looking up for all of us and we have repaid the foodbank with donations everyh week. It can bhappen to anyone.

Also, if you didn't know, you can't just turn up and get food. You need a referral from SS, your GP or similar

Ticketybootoo · 24/05/2017 22:49

A 2 bed flat to rent where I live is a 1000pcm plus bills . Basically you couldn't live on 22 k .

GrumpyGreta · 24/05/2017 22:59

Op I'm totally with you on this one.

Purplealienpuke · 25/05/2017 06:30

It's my understanding that food banks are for people who find themselves in such circumstances that they warrant a referral. If the people who make the referrals have evidence that person is in need on that occasion then they give them a slip. I may be wrong.
Anyone can find themselves in a shit situation and in need of help.
I don't think it's a badge of honour (like some people viewed asbos) and I don't think anyone can/should judge.
It's a sad world we live in 😔

NameChanger22 · 25/05/2017 07:13

22k is not a poor salary.

I would love to earn that much. I'm a graduate, lots and lots off qualifications and over 25 years of work experience and I've never come close to earning anything like that. Most graduates I know don't earn that much.

I do understand that people can fall into difficult circumstances and things go wrong, but if most people put a bit more effort into creating a safety net for themselves and saved for a rainy day instead of spending everything they earn as soon as they get it, then they would be able to be more self-sufficient. If I can save a little bit on my 13k pittance then I'm sure most people can. Start by ditching the car, if its not completely essential; live somewhere cheap; forget about holidays until you have some savings; read the frugal boards and turn leaving cheaply (but well) into an art form.

NameChanger22 · 25/05/2017 07:16

*living cheaply - ooops. It's too early.

Original poster
beardymcbeardy · 25/05/2017 10:58

I run through our referral rules. We do emergency food. As in last resort food. We often see people who are receiving their benefits in full who are finding life tough. Obviously they are. Living on £60 a week isn't anyone's idea of a picnic. Do we give them a food parcel? No we don't. Is this because we are hard nosed people who tell our clients to learn how to bake bread and soak broth mix and generally buck up their ideas?

No.

We say 'no' because we have no choice. Were we to give emergency food to everyone out there who is trying to survive on State benefits we wouldn't be handing out 5000 emergency food parcels a year: we would be handing out 50,000 emergency food parcels a year. And we couldn't manage that. No chance.

So we need to draw a line. Which means we have to tell people trying to get by on £3000 a year we cannot help them. So what do you think we would do if the likes of Claire Austin came in asking for our help because she was struggling to get by on thirty grand a year?

This is a post from a Foodbank Manager. Ive not copied the whole thing but he also mentions that peddling the myth that people on relatively large incomes can get food parcels can damage the amount of donations they receive. Its actually quite sad reading.

OP posts:
Original poster
beardymcbeardy · 25/05/2017 11:01

I see he has put £30k but im sure his point still stands on £22k.

OP posts:
nakedscientist · 25/05/2017 12:20

SO, OP you have all the answers already.

It begs the question: why did you post on AIBU? You say several times "only on MN would people say..." you have listened to only those who agree with you "at last someone talking sense"

My answer is still YABU. Nothing you have said alters the fact that IF the lady in question was referred to a food bank by professionals (GP, SS etc) then she was entitled. Just because she is a nurse, and you guessed her salary at the beginning, does not mean she's not hit hard times. If she's a bank nurse, this is easy to explain. If not then without the facts, which none of us have, it is not our right to judge IMHO.

Original poster
beardymcbeardy · 25/05/2017 15:22

Naked Scientist, middle name thread police?

I didnt 'know' the answers, I knew what I thought. Some people have agreed with me. Some have disagreed with me. Those who have disagreed with me haven't managed to convince me that they are not wrong.

I didnt guess her salary neither. The nurse said on national telly specifically what her salary was, and that it wasnt enough to live on forcing her to use a foodbank, and due to this she was entitled to a payrise. I did round the figure down though.

No judging? Biscuit AIBU is the home of judgyness.

OP posts:
Birdsgottaf1y · 25/05/2017 15:38

""but if most people put a bit more effort into creating a safety net for themselves and saved for a rainy day instead of spending everything they earn as soon as they get it, then they would be able to be more self-sufficient. If I can save a little bit on my 13k pittance then I'm sure most people can""

My DH became ill, but had a wrong diagnosis, so didn't get sickness benefit etc, I was working. That took our safety net. He got progressively worse.

I continued working, but hadn't claimed the Childcare was element on CTC, so had to pay Childcare, luckily family helped us out, also.

We lost our home and moving took all of our disposable income.

We just went into a downward spiral with things getting worse and worse.

If it wasn't for family, we wouldn't have eaten every day. I was Widowed, with three children, it took me years to get on an even keel. There was no possibility of building up a safety net.

When I did volunteering at a Welfare Rights I saw lots of people similar happened to.

I was only on 17k, but we are Up North.

I'm currently disabled and in one week I can spend £40 on taxis to hospital appointments. Ironically I'm not well enough to get the hospital transport.

You can't say "if I can do it anyone can", because that isn't the case.

missanony · 25/05/2017 15:46

if a household income suddenly dropped from £122k to £22k then i'd suggest that the household needs to cut their cloth accordingly. Not living a £122k lifestyle on £22k budget and expecting the state to pay for food

That's honestly one of the most stupid things I've heard.

A household income like that will likely have a couple of cars on finance, a massive mortgage and bills to go with it. Food banks are ran by charities, not the state.

missanony · 25/05/2017 15:51

We couldn't live on £22k.

Mortgage - £800
Utilities & CT - £270
Cars - £260
Fuel for commuting - £260
Phones - £65
Internet/TV, if reduced to min package - £30

That's nearing £1700 before food, clothes, any other debts, anything going wrong, any annual insurances... the list goes on.

It would take a long time to be able to reduce the above expenses by much at all.

NameChanger22 · 25/05/2017 16:18

Missanony - Why would a household with 122k income have cars on finance? Surely a family with that much income could just buy the cars, maybe not always brand new though.

NameChanger22 · 25/05/2017 16:29

Birdsgottafly - I think you need to reread my post.

I didn't say "if I can do it anyone can", I said "If I can save a little bit on my 13k pittance then I'm sure most people can." 'Most' being the operative word here, because most people earn more than me, so could potentially save money too, if they really want to and are willing to make some sacrifices.

My post wasn't directed at people for whom things keep going wrong, more at the people who never contemplate that it can, and don't make any provision for it. I know a lot of people like this - off on an expensive holiday one minute, getting into rent arrears the next.

You had your kind family as a safety net, I don't have that, so I have to make sure I can protect us from difficult circumstances as much as possible. The buck stops with me.

Glad things are better for you now.

VeuveLilies · 25/05/2017 18:44

22- of course people on 122k have finance for cars.
They can't necessarily pay £20/30/40k upfront

WomblingThree · 25/05/2017 18:59

beardymcbeardy your post from the food bank manager doesn't make sense. They don't give food to people on £30k and they don't give food to people on £60 a week. Who are they giving it to then??

CormorantDevouringTime · 25/05/2017 19:05

They are giving it to people who normally get 60 pounds (or even 600 pounds) a week but have had a temporary emergency and find themselves in a deficit with no savings and no food in the house.

witsender · 25/05/2017 21:27

I am a foodbank manager (I run a section of a large one) and I disagree with the manager quoted above. We help anyone who comes in with a voucher, anyone who has been referred. And if you are in crisis, you will be referred. That is the entire raison d'etre of the Foodbank. We don't decide who needs it and who doesn't, that isn't our call. We work hard to choose and manager voucher holders well, and if we heard they weren't helping people in crisis, without a very good reason, we would remove their vouchers. If you cannot feed your family, a well run foodbank should help.

We are a Trussell Trust bank and are well supported, we have a good reputation for integrity etc so maybe we have more food to play with.